Silence In The Scars
by InkHeartCM
Summary: The BAU heads off to Hill Lake, Minnesota to catch a serial killer that strangles his victims. When Spencer Reid is kidnapped by the UNSUB's the team has two days to find him or else things could go very badly for Reid. Warnings on Chps.
1. Prologue

Updated: 12/12/13

_People have been commenting about some of the grammar and spelling so I went through and fixed what I could find. Don't forget to leave a comment. _

Silence in the Scars

By: A.M. Anderson

Prologue

**Disclaimer: I do not own Criminal Minds nor the characters. I do own my characters. Warning: Violence**

Spencer Reid walked silently down the apparently deserted hallway, the only noise came from the occasional squeak of the floor boards. The light from his flashlight flitted over the dusty furniture and assorted jumble of objects that lay on the floor, he kept his gun pointed ahead in case the UNSUB was there. Reid entered the room at the end of the hall and quickly scanned the room with his flashlight, nobody was in it. There was a creak of old wooden flooring being stepped on from behind him but, before he could turn around or call for the others a hard blow to the back of his head made him fall to the floor unconscious.

Meanwhile, the rest of the BAU team and other S.W.A.T were assembling outside the abandoned house after a long, frustrating, dead-end search had revealed no UNSUB.

"There was no sign of the UNSUB," Emily Prentiss was telling Aaron Hotchner. "The UNSUB must have left after making the call."

"Have you guys seen Reid?" Derek Morgan asked joining them.

"No," Prentiss replied, a hint of worry clouding her voice. "He was going to check the back room."

"I know," Morgan replied, his brow furrowed. "He should be back by now, the back room wasn't that far from the front hall." Just then JJ walked up to the group looking worried a evidence bag clenched tightly in her slightly shaking hand.

"Nobody's seen him," she told them quietly, her face pale with worry. "And there was this on one of the squad car's wind shields." She handed Hotch the evidence bag inside was a short note written in thin, jerky handwriting.

Hotch read from the small scrap of paper once silently to himself and then slowly he read it out loud to the rest of his team.

"Stop looking for use and we'll let the agent go, keep trying to catch use and he is dead. You have three days to give use your answer."

The team looked at each other as Hotch finished the note, the same thought was crossing their minds as Hotch handed the evidence bag to one of the officers.

Why was it always Reid?

"Everyone spread out and search the grounds and the house," Hotch ordered snapping everyone out of their thoughts. "There's a chance they could still be here." He knew that it was a slim chance that the UNSUB's had stuck around but he was hoping that there was a least some evidence that could point to who had taken Reid and where. The remaining BAU team, other officers, and S.W.A.T members spread out, searching the house and combing the surrounding grounds and field for any sign of Reid or the UNSUB. They were so intent on the search that nobody saw the pair of tail lights speeding over the hill in the distance.


	2. Chapter 1: The Beginning

Silence in the Scars

By: A.M. Anderson

Chapter 1: The Beginning

**Disclaimer: I do not own Criminal Minds nor the shows characters. I do own my characters.**

**Two Days Earlier**

Emily Prentiss and Derek Morgan were having an intense conversation about a book that they both had been reading when JJ walked past their desks, her long blond ponytail swinging slightly. Neither one of the two agents was doing the paperwork they were supposed to be doing.

"Hey guys," JJ said smiling. She had just finished going through a pile of cases and had decided where they were going.

"Hey JJ," Prentiss said. She glanced up from the paperwork she was supposed to be doing, she despised it and was relived for a distraction. "How was your weekend?"

"Same as always," she replied. "Henry discovered that crayons work on the wall." JJ dropped a new case file on top of Emily's paperwork pile.

"New case?" Prentiss asked. She picked it up and flipped through it.

"How bad?" Morgan asked as he took a file from JJ and started looking over it.

"Pretty bad," she said grimly. "Hotch wants use in the briefing room."

"Great," Prentiss said. "Just what I needed." Spencer Reid entered the bullpen. His blond hair was messed up and he looked rather frazzled.

"Hey Reid," JJ said as she handed him a case file.

"Hey pretty boy," Morgan smirked. "You're late."

"Sorry," Reid apologized. "My alarm didn't go off and the line at the coffee shop was ridiculous." He set down his messenger bag and took sip of his coffee.

"Mr. Punctuality is late," Prentiss teased. "What is that? Like your first time since you started working for the bureau."

"I've been late before," Reid replied. "The average person is late to work about once every two weeks."

"There is nothing average about you Reid," Morgan said. The three agents followed JJ to the briefing room.

"There have been four murders in Hill Lake, Minnesota," Hotch said as soon as his team was seated in the briefing room.

Penelope Garcia, their resident technical guru and perky blond pulled up the pictures of a young woman with blond hair and blue eyes and was smiling at the camera.

"Okay so the first victim was one Sydney Crawford, she was a 22 year old college student attending Hill Lake Community College. She was last seen six weeks ago after work. Her car was in the parking garage, but her body turned up in the woods on the outskirts of town." Garcia pulled up the next picture with her body along with the smiling pictures of another blond girl.

"The second victim was Lindsey Jameson who was a 24 intern working at the local theater. She was last seen four weeks ago and was also abducted on the way to her car after going to the local gym. Her body was also found in the woods about a mile and a half from the first victim's body." More pictures appeared on the screen as the bodies of Sydney and Lindsey were placed next to the smiling face of another young woman. Hotch continued with the information about the third victim.

"Victoria Hartley was a 21 year old also attending the same collage as our first victim, Sydney Crawford, she was last seen two weeks ago after work, same MO as the other two victims. She abducted on the way to her car. Her body was found a week ago, in the same woods about two miles from the other victims."

"The latest body discovered belonged to Carrie Lord," Garcia pulled up the pictures of the latest victim. "A 26 year old grad student from out of town, she was visiting her parents when she was abducted on the way to her car at the same local gym as the second victim. She went missing same day that Victoria Hartley's body was discovered in the woods. Her body was about a mile from the other three victims."

"Another girl has also gone missing," Hotch said. "Abbey Warren, she's a 25 year old art major attending the same collage as the other two victims. Her roommate reported her missing last night after she didn't come home from the local gym. Local police found her car there and her bag was lying on the ground a little ways from it."

"So this UNSUB has a type," Morgan said looked at the pictures of the five girls. "Blond hair, blue eyes, medium height, and stature."

"The bodies don't show any sign of sexual assault or torture," Reid said. "That's unusual, most serial killers usually ether sexually assault their victims or kill them violently."

"Most, don't have a statistic for use Dr. Reid?" Prentiss teased him.

"86%," Reid replied without missing a beat. "I'm trying to be more normal."

"Yeah not working," Prentiss said before Hotch interrupted.

"The timeline between abducting and killing the girls is decreasing. He has gone from two weeks between murders to one."

"Which means Abbey Warren's probably already dead," Morgan said, the good natured mood from earlier faded slowly from the room.

"Until a body is found we operate under the assumption that she is still alive," Hotch said collecting his papers. "Wheels up in twenty."

"He might be searching for his next victim already," Prentiss said standing up. "Which means we have a week at best before he kills another girl."

"Probably less," Reid looked at her picture thoughtfully. "The timeline is decreasing which suggests the UNSUB is most likely devolving."

"Oh this is getting better and better," JJ said. Garcia removed the pictures from the screen.

"Local police will meet you when you land," Garcia said. "Be safe." The others filled out of the briefing room.

"What's up baby girl?" Derek asked. "You worried about us?" He wrapped his arm around her shoulder.

"It's nothing," she smiled brightly. "Now go catch the guy." Morgan kissed her on the forehead and left. Garcia watched him, her smile fading. She didn't know why, but she couldn't shake the feeling that something bad was going to happen.


	3. Chapter 2: The Plane

Silence in the Scars

By: A.M. Anderson

Chapter 2: The Plane

**Disclaimer: I do not own Criminal Minds nor the shows characters. I do own my characters.**

A plane flew across the sky, clouds flickered past the planes windows and a bright sunlight shown into the comfortable interior unaware of the dismal topic going on inside.

"How is the UNSUB killing his victims," Morgan asked.

"Coroner report's from all four victims says they were strangled," Prentiss flipped through the coroner's report skimming them. "It looks like the UNSUB used his hands to strangle them. There was bruising on the necks of all the victims."

"So this UNSUB abducts these women on the way to their cars," Morgan said thinking out loud. "And then he strangles them using his hands. He has to be rather strong. These women were all in physically fit condition, they easily could have fought back or run away."

"He also is probably stalking them," Prentiss said brushing back a few loose strands of dark hair that had escaped her ponytail.

"What makes you think that?" JJ asked looking up from her notes and squinting as the sunlight hit her squarely in the eye.

"They were all abducted on the way to their cars," she explained. "Three from the same gym and the other two were abducted on the way to their cars after work.

"There were also no witness and he would have had to follow them to learn their daily routines," Reid interjected. "He'd have to be patient and have a job that would allow him to follow them. Is there any footage from the gym or parking garages?"

"Well mon cheris, I'm sorry to disappoint you buy there isn't any footage from the gym nor is there any from the two parking garages," Garcia's blond, crazy hair and smiling face appeared on the computer screen as her bright, bubbly voice filled the plan's cabin.

"Why isn't there any footage of the abduction from the gym," Reid asked. "93% of all business in Minnesota have some kind of video surveillance."

"How do you know that?" Morgan asked with an incredulous tone. "You don't even live close to Minnesota."

"Garcia?" Hotch interjected as Reid opened his mouth to reply.

"It's broken," Garcia pouted. "So ether the bad guy knew it wasn't working or he got lucky."

"Cross check the employees from the gym with those that work at Hill Lake Community College or attend it," Hotch said. "Also see if there is any footage of the outside of the parking garages or any from the surrounding businesses."

"Will do," she smiled at them, "I'll let you know when I find something." Her face disappeared from the computer screen, replaced by the F.B.I emblem.

"When we land I want Morgan and Reid to go to the latest crime scene. Prentiss and Rossi go and talk to the roommate and look at Abbey's room. JJ and I will go down to the police station and talk to the families of the victims," Hotch said. "For now everyone try and get some rest. I highly doubt we will be getting any the next couple of days."


	4. Chapter 3: Hill Lake, Minnesota

Silence in the Scars

By: A.M. Anderson

Chapter 3: Hill Lake, Minnesota

**Disclaimer: I do not own Criminal Minds nor the characters. I do own my characters. **

Derek Morgan drove the black SUV to the edge of the forest and the two of them stepped out into the afternoon heat.

"You must be the FBI," a woman with short brown hair and brown eyes walked up to them in the local cop uniform. "I'm Sheriff Jones," she introduced herself extending her hand.

"Agent's SSA Derek Morgan," Morgan shook her hand and showed her his badge.

"Dr. Spencer Reid," Reid showed her his badge too.

"Nice to meet you folks. I'm glad you're here," Jones smiled and lead the way into the woods to the crime scene. "With four women murdered and a fifth missing the whole towns been on edge."

"How publicized have the murder's been?" Morgan asked following Jones into the forest.

"In a town this size new will travel pretty fast," she said ducking under a tree branch. "Especially this type of new."

"How far in is the crime scene?" Reid asked, his voice slightly muffled as he pushed the leafy branches out of his face and nearly tripped over a protruding root.

"Just a little further down this path," Jones called over her shoulder as they continued to push their way through the overhanging branches and leaves. Sunlight filtered through the gaps in the overhead thicket and shone on the dark forest floor. After a couple more minutes of foraging a path through the trees, they heard a voice up ahead.

"Jones is that you?" A male voice had called out ahead of them.

"Yeah Rick it's me," Jones called ahead to the where the voice had come from, she then turned to the others. "That's Rick Brown, he's worked as a ranger here for about ten years I think. He's the one that found Carrie Lord's body." A man had turned as they had finally pushed their way out of the dense, overhanging branches and into a small clearing. Rick was tall, in his mid to late thirty's and had brown, wispy balding hair.

"Hi," he greeted them with a tense, weary smile. The stress and sadness of the recent murders was evident in his blue eyes as he shook their hands.

"You found Carrie Lord's body?" Morgan asked as Reid went to take a closer look at the crime scene.

"Yeah," Rick said shaking his head mumbling. "I liked that girl, she and my son used to date."

"I'm sorry for your loss," Morgan said.

"I feel worse for her parents," Rick said, shaking his head. "I can't imagine what they must be going through."

"Do you remember anything in particular about the body or the surrounding area?" Morgan asked him quietly, Rick shook his head. "Anything at all?" He persisted.

"Well she was all dressed up," he replied with a shrug. "Carrie hated makeup and stuff like that. I assumed she was on the way to a date." Morgan quickly wrote that down in his black covered notebook.

"Thank you Mr. Brown," Morgan said as Rick walked off in a dazed manner. Morgan walked over to where Reid was walking along the outside of the crime scene examining the spots marked by orange evidence markers. "He said that she was all dressed up and wearing makeup"

"Don't girls normally wear makeup," Reid said when Morgan informed of the new fact.

"According to Brown she didn't wear makeup," Morgan replied. Reid walked over to a clump of bushes examining the ground where boot prints were marked by a white evidence marker. Reid was only half paying attention to what Morgan was telling him when something red and shiny inside the bush caught his eye. Reid pulled his blue crime scene gloves on, bent down and pushed apart the branches of the bush to revile a bouquet of red roses.

"Earth to Reid," Morgan called to Reid as he walked away from him. "Hey are you listening?"

"Come look at this," Reid called over his shoulder to a slightly ticked off Morgan.

"Obviously not," Morgan muttered to himself as he walked over to where Reid was crouched by the bush.

"Roses?" Morgan asked forgetting his irritation as looked over Reid's shoulder. "Hey it looks like there's a note." He pulled on his own crime scene gloves and reached over Reid's arm to pull out the roses. Then handing the roses to Reid he pulled out a small black envelope, silvery, flowing handwriting was on the front.

"What's it say?" Reid asked curiously.

"To Carrie," Morgan replied flipping it over. "Well we know who the roses are for." He opened the envelope and pulled out a piece of tightly folded piece of paper.

"What's that?" Jones asked joining them.

"Roses and a note that was left for Carrie," Reid informed her while Morgan unfolded the paper. "We believe the UNSUB left it," he added.

"UNSUB?" Jones asked confused.

"Unidentified suspect," Reid said as Morgan completely unfolded the paper.

"Huh," Morgan frowned looking at the paper.

"What's it say?" Jones asked.

"I don't know," Morgan replied. "I think it's in French."

"So the killer knows French," Jones said raising an eyebrow.

"It would appear so," Reid said.

"Hey smarty pants," Morgan handed Reid the note. "Why don't you use that brain of yours and translate this for use."

"I don't know French. I only know Latin and English," replied Reid in a tone that suggested Morgan should have known that. "But I think Garcia does."

"Who's Garcia?" Jones asked curious.

"Our technical analyst," Morgan said.

"She's a glorified hacker," Reid explained to the still confused Jones.

"Let's get this note to her then," Morgan said as they turned to go.

"Wait," Jones exclaimed looking at the flowers. "Those couldn't have been left when Carrie's body was."

"How come?" Morgan asked turning to face the cop.

"There was a huge storm last night," she explained. "There would be water damage to it if it had been left then."

"He's revisited the crime scene," Reid said. "Let's get this back to the station." They headed back out of the dimly light forest and back to the car.


	5. Chapter 4: A Clue

Silence in the Scars

By: A.M. Anderson

Chapter 4: A Clue

**Disclaimer: I do not own Criminal Minds nor the characters. I do own my characters.**

While Morgan, and Reid went to the last crime scene JJ, and Hotch went to the Hill Lake Local Police Station. It was a small brick building with the words Hill Lake Police Department painted on a small gray sign out front. When they walked through the glass double doors they were greeted almost instantly by a young man with dark blond hair and brown eyes.

"You must bet the FBI," he said smiling and extending his hand. "I'm Deputy Jonathan Riley."

"Supervisory Special Agent Aaron Hotchner," Hotch said shaking the eager young deputy's hand.

"Hi I'm Agent Jennifer Jarrod I spoke on the phone with Sheriff Jones," JJ said smiling as she shook his hand.

"Yeah she said she was going to go and meet part of your team at the crime scene," he replied nodding enthusiastically.

"The back room is all set up for you guys," Riley said leading them through the small police station. "You can see there's not that much room and we have even less man power then we do room," Hotch's phone started buzzing from in her pocket.

"Hotchner," he said answering it and then listened to whoever was talking on the other end of the phone. "Okay I'll let them know." He hung up the phone and turned to the others who were looking at him curiously. "That was Morgan."

"Who's Morgan?" Riley asked.

"He's one of the agents that Sheriff Jones met at the crime scene," JJ told him. "He's at the crime scene with one of our other agents."

"The UNSUB left roses and a note in French at the crime scene sometime after last night," Hotch informed them.

"How do they know it wasn't when the body was disposed and the techs missed it?" JJ asked.

"There was a big storm last night," Riley said.

"And there was no damage to ether the flowers or the note," Hotch said looking at Riley slightly annoyed. "They're going to send the note to Garcia and see if she can translate it."

"Our technical analyst," JJ said before Riley could even ask.

"Also they said that Carrie Lord never wore makeup and was found with makeup and dressed up," Hotch said putting his phone back in his pocket.

"So he's revisiting the site where he leaves the body," JJ said. "And making his victims look nice."

"What if he views these as dates?" Hotch asked.

"Dates," Riley shuddered. "That's twisted."

"Are Carrie's parents here?" JJ asked as Hotch turned a frustrated gaze at Riley. Riley nodded

"Cathleen and Robert Lord," he pointed to a small office, inside a couple was sitting on a small couch in front of the window.

"I got it," JJ told Hotch and walked off towards the small office. Both of Carrie's parents looked up when she opened the door. Cathleen's blue eyes were red from crying and her brown hair looked unkempt while Robert just looked stunned, he kept running his hand through his blond hair shaking his head softly. Both of them looked like they hadn't slept in days and had aged years.

"Hi I'm Agent Jennifer Jarrod from the FBI," she introduced herself sitting down in the wooden chair opposite the couch. "You can call me JJ if you like. I'd like to ask you some questions if that's okay."

"The police already asked use questions," Robert said numbly.

"I know but I have some different questions," JJ replied softly. Cathleen looked up tears clinging to her eyelashes.

"Why couldn't you people have done your job before my daughter was murdered?" Robert snapped, tears starting in his eyes.

"I'm sorry for your lose but this will help us find the man who murdered your daughter," JJ replied calmly. She never liked talking to the parents on victims, they were always sad, lonely and desperate. They wanted to blame somebody for the death of their child.

"Robert," Cathleen laid a hand on her husband's arm before turning back to JJ. "Do you think you'll be able to catch the monster who did this to my baby?" She asked fiercely.

"That's what we do," JJ said setting the file about Carrie with all the crime scene pictures on the low coffee table between her and the distraught parents. "Did Carrie always follow the same routine every day?"

"She liked having a schedule," Cathleen sniffed quietly. "Said it helped her feel more stable."

"Did she have any recent conflicts with anyone?" JJ asked.

"Conflicts?" Robert asked. "No. She never had a problem with anyone. Everyone loved her."

"Any new friends or a boyfriend?" JJ asked them. "Anyone new in her life?"

"She had made a new friend," Cathleen said smiling a little. "Carrie loved making new friends." JJ was quickly writing it all down in her notebook before she looked back up at the parents.

"Do you remember this girl's name?" She pushed gently.

"Joey or Zoe," she gave a small shrug. "I don't really remember."

"Do you know where she was going after the gym?"

"She said something about going to the movies," Robert's voice cracked slightly.

"I just have one more question," JJ hesitated to show them the picture of Carrie's dead body. "Is this something she owned or that you recognize her as having worn?" Both Robert and Cathleen turned away from the picture shaking their heads.

"I don't know," Robert said gruffly. JJ nodded and put the picture away. She picked up the folder and stood up.

"Thank you for your time," she said then pushed the door open and walked to where Hotch was pinning pictures up on the cork board.

"Well?" He asked seeing her come into the room.

"Carrie lots of friends, no boyfriend, no enemies and everyone loved her." JJ sighed as she pinned the picture of the Carrie Lord's body under the smiling one of her. She stepped back as Reid and Morgan walked in.

"What did you find out?" Morgan asked.

"She was your typical girl. Lots of friends and no boyfriend," Hotch said.

"Her mother said that she loved meeting new people," JJ added as Morgan's phone started buzzing.

"Hey baby girl," Morgan answered it and put it on speaker. "What cha' got for me?"

"Well," Garcia's voice came out of the phone. "Nobody popped from the workers at the gym or the people who worked or attended the college."

"What about the note?" Reid asked.

"Le véritable amour ne meurt jamais," Garcia replied. "True love never dies."

"Thanks Garcia," Hotch said as Morgan snapped the phone shut and returned it to his pocket.

"The flowers, the clothes, the French note, and the makeup," Morgan mussed out loud. "Sounds like a date."

"A really screwed up one," Jones said just entering the room behind Riley.

"Gather your officers," Hotch said. "Where ready to give the profile."


	6. Chapter 5: A New Body, A New Victim

Silence in the Scars

By: Alena Anderson

Chapter 5: A New Body, A New Victim

**Disclaimer: I do not own Criminal Minds nor the characters. I do own my characters.**

Outside the sheriff station the sun was slowly starting to sink behind the trees as the officers gathered in front of the FBI profilers.

"The UNSUB or unidentified subject that we are looking for is going to be a white male in his early twenty's," Hotch said to the collected officers and police men that his team was delivering the profile to.

"He's methodical and highly intelligent, but doesn't stand out in a crowd. He fits in with the type of people that these girls hung out with, it's possible that they knew their killer," Morgan continued. "He also stalked his victims, probably for a couple of days before he abducted and killed them."

"This also means that if he has a job it's probably one with flexible work hours," Rossi said.

"So far his Victimology has been consistent," interjected Reid.

"Victim- what?" One of the rookie police officers asked.

"Victimology. The study of the victims in orders to profile the UNSUB," Reid rattled off. "To understand why the UNSUB chose these girls we need to look at what they have in common."

"So far they have been blond females with blue eyes who are in their early twenty," Morgan said.

"This UNSUB is also methodical and highly intelligent, he's not going to get caught be accident," Rossi said pulling out a chair from one of the desks and sitting down. "He has a narcissistic personality which gives him the confidence to keep killing."

"This type of serial killer isn't going to stop killing and the decrease in the time line suggest that he is devolving," Hotch said. "The killings are only going to increase until we catch him."

After giving the police the profile, the BAU team headed back to their hotel. The small hotel that they were staying at was less than a block from the station and knowing that there was not much else they could do that night they decided to get some much needed rest. The hotel was called, The Pleasant Inn, it was anything but pleasant. When they entered the rundown looking hotel they were greeted by moth eaten curtains hanging by the windows and the slight smell of garlic and onions that seemed to pervade the air. Trying hard not to seem to displeased Hotch lead the way up to the front desk where a sullen looking teenager with a name tag that read Tom Maynard sat listening to his iPod.

"Excuse me," Hotch said clearing his throat. Tom didn't even look up, the music was blaring so loudly that the team could hear well enough to make out the lyrics. Morgan who was tired and grown more irritable at the surroundings leaned over the counter and yanked the ear buds out of the kid's ears.

"What the-," Tom glared at them angrily.

"We'd like to go to our room now," Morgan said smiling tersely.

"Uh okay," Tom quelled under the glare from Morgan. "I.D's?" They showed him their badges and Tom dug out three keys from under the desk and handed them over.

"Three?" Reid asked shifting uncomfortable on his feet.

"Some of the rooms are being fumigated," Tom said shrugging his shoulders before jamming back in his ear buds.

"Wonderful," Prentiss said dryly.

"Looks like we'll have to share," Hotch sighed as he handed one of the keys to JJ and the second key to Morgan, keeping the third for himself. "Everyone be up early tomorrow." He ordered before he and Rossi headed off to their room and the two girls went off to their room, leaving Reid and Morgan standing awkwardly in the dingy lobby with Tom.

"Looks like were bunking," Morgan said swinging the key around his finger as they headed off to their room. The hotel's hallway's looked like the rest of the hotel and they both were dreading what the room looked like. Opening the door they were greeted by the sight of a single bed and a small couch that looked like it had at least one mouse living in it. "You're getting the couch," Morgan informed Reid, who shot him a glare as they walked into the room.

"Did you know that 68% of all hotel room's beds have lice and or bed bugs," Reid rattled off one of his many statistics as he headed towards the bathroom, hoping there was at least hot water.

**Next Day**

Hotch was just adjusting his tie in the dingy mirror when his phone started buzzing on the wooden table.

"Hotch," he said answering it.

"It's Jones, get your team down here as soon as possible," the female sheriff sounded on edge and pissed.

"What's happened?" Hotch asked already out the hotel room door.

"Park officials just found Abbey Warren's body," Jones informed him. "And Jennifer Ford has gone missing."

"Where on the way," he snapped the phone shut and found Reid, Morgan, Rossi, and Prentiss sitting in the lobby. "Where's JJ?"

"Fixing her hair," Prentiss yawned. "And there's no coffee."

"What's wrong?" Rossi asked catching sight of Hotch's face.

"They found Abbey Warren's body," he said just as JJ walked up to the. "And another girl's gone missing."

"He abducted another girl already," Reid said stunned. "It's been less than 72 hours."

"He might have increased his killings because of the FBI's involvement," Morgan said.

"Jones wants use down at the station, "Hotch said. The team walked out the dingy hotel and into the bright early morning sunshine.

Outside the police station media vans had already parked and were waiting. The team had managed to fight their way inside with the response of "No Comment" when Jones appeared almost instantly.

"Good you're here," she sounded frazzled. "The media already got hold of this."

"I'm on it," JJ sighed before going back outside to deal with the ever-constant media.

"Morgan and Prentiss go check out the crime scene," Hotch ordered as they both nodded and followed Jones back out of the station. "Reid call Garcia and see if she found anything else on Jennifer Ford." Reid nodded as he walked a little away from the group and dialed Garcia's number.

"Oracle of Quantico, speak and be heard of fortunate one," she answered as usually in her absurd fashion.

"Garcia can you find anything on a Jennifer Ford?" Reid asked.

"Who?" Garcia asked.

"She's most likely the UNSUB's latest victim," he replied.

"Oh," was the only response. He heard the sound of her fingers furiously typing and knew that she was looking for anything and everything on Jennifer Ford.

"Jennifer Ford is a 20 year old transfer to Hill Lake Community College. She transference from Ohio State University and is currently living with her fiancé Greg Brown," she rattled off. "The rest of her file is en route as we speak."

"Thanks Garcia," he said hanging up and grabbing the file out of the fax machine. "Jennifer Ford fits the UNSUB's type," He said to the other's as he rejoined them.

"We need to figure out what made him change his time line," Hotch said as they walked back to the board with all the murdered girls on it. Reid pinned the picture of a girl with blond hair, blue eyes, and a cocky smile up next to the one of Abbey Warren's.

Morgan and Prentiss pulled up outside the same forest that Morgan and Reid were at yesterday as Jones pulled up in a cruiser behind them.

"It's less than 20 yards from where Carrie's was," Jones told them leading the way into the woods. They passed the other crime scene as the trees overhead rustled with the early morning breeze. The new crime scene was in another small clearing, Abbey Warren's body was lying face up on the center with her hands folded neatly across her chest. She might have been sleeping if not for the dead, vacant look in her eyes which starred unseeing at the canopy of leaves above her.

"Look at the way she's posed," Prentiss said in an undertone to Morgan as they both snapped on their crime scene gloves while they approached the body.

"Same as the others," Morgan said crouching down and examining the body more closely.

"Makeup and outfit," Prentiss said. "Like she's on a date."

"I have to make a quick call," Jones said turning back. "Reception's terrible in these woods." Morgan and Prentiss just nodded as they focused on the crime scene.

"Prentiss," he said suddenly. "Look at her hands." A piece of paper was visible beneath the folded hands. Morgan lifted the top hand carefully as Prentiss bent down to pull the paper out.

"It's another note," she said straightening up. "To the FBI though this time."

"What?" Morgan came around to look at the note, sure enough in a slightly more feminine handwriting then the last note were written the words;

_**To The FBI**_

"It's a threat," Prentiss said flipping it over and reading what was written on the back.

_**Leave or One Of Yours Will Pay The Price.**_

Morgan took the note from her to read what it said. The wind picked up and the sun was momentarily driven behind a cloud, the small clearing they were in had grown cold and dark.

"Let's get this back to the others," Morgan said as the sun came back out he put the threatening letter into a clear plastic evidence bag. They followed the same path back out of the woods to where Jones was supposed to be waiting for them at the vehicles.

"Jones?" Prentiss called when she didn't see her anywhere. She noticed a pair of brown boots lying on the ground behind the wheels of the police cruiser. "Over there," she nodded toward the visible boots slipping her gun out of the holster on her hip as Morgan did the same. Walking quickly, but cautiously around the car, Morgan on the right and Prentiss on the left. Prentiss saw Jones was lying on the ground, unmoving. Morgan quickly bent down and checked for a pulse.

"She's alive," he said. "Just knocked out but come look at this." He walked around to the right side of the cruiser and showed her the message painted in red paint.

_**Back Off or Else.**_

_**Author's Note:**_

_**Things are getting interesting for our profilers. Comment please! **_


	7. Chapter 6: The Phone Call

Silence in the Scars

By: A.M. Anderson

Chapter 6: The Phone Call

**Disclaimer: I do not own Criminal Minds nor the characters. I do own my characters. Warning: Violence**

Back at the Hill Lake Police Station Hotch, Reid, and Rossi where trying to figure out why the UNSUB had drastically shifted his timeline when Hotch's phone started ringing.

"The FBI's involvement might have caused him to panic," Reid said to Rossi while Hotch answered his cell.

"But we profiled him as methodical, organized," Rossi said. "He would have known that the F.B.I would have gotten involved."

"The UNSUB left another note," Hotch said getting off the phone looking even more stressed. "And Jones was attacked."

"Is she okay?" Reid asked.

"Just a blow to the head," Hotch replied. "She's still out cold, but the paramedics are on their way and she should be fine."

"The UNSUB attacked a police officer," Rossi said. "That's bold."

"What about the note the UNSUB left," Reid asked.

"Two notes this time," Hotch said pulling up the two pictures that Morgan had sent him on the cell. "One on a piece of paper where Abbey's body was and one in red paint on the side of the car."

"He's trying to send a message," Rossi said.

"Yeah," Reid said. "Leave the case alone or else they're going to kill one of use."

"Definitely bold," Rossi muttered.

"We need to have JJ release a statement to the media," Hotch turned to JJ who had just walked. "And set up a tip line."

"Why?" Riley asked coming into the room. He looked more tired and less like his usual inquisitive self.

"The UNSUB will call if we release a statement to the press," JJ explained. "Either to gloat over what he's done or in this case threaten us further."

"If we link the lines up with our technical analyst in Quantico she can trace the UNSUB's phone call back to its source," Hotch said as Morgan and Prentiss returned.

"And catch the UNSUB," Reid added.

"Here's the other note," Prentiss said wearily placing the evidence bag on the table next to the other note. Reid picked up both of them and examined them more closely while the others talked about what happened at the crime scene.

"There's more than one UNSUB," Reid exclaimed. He had been examining the notes and was finding distinct differences. Everyone turned to look at him as he explained. "The second note was written by a woman and the first by a male."

"So were dealing with a team, "Morgan said looking less than thrilled.

"In this case I'd say the female is the dominant personality," Reid mussed out loud while pouring over the note.

"Why?" Rossi asked.

"On the first note the handwriting is hesitant and unconnected while on the second note it's larger and clearer." Reid placed both evidence bags back on the table. "Also the first note was addressed to an individual showing that he isn't confident with the masses while the second note is addressed to a group of people."

"You got all that from the handwriting?" Riley asked incredulous.

"Graphology is an effective and reliable indicator of personality and behavior," Reid reeled off.

"So what changes about our profile?" Hotch asked.

Reid went with Prentiss to the hospital to check on how Jones was doing. The clean white surfaces glinted from the late afternoon sun shining through the windows, doctors and nurses bustled down the hallway. Prentiss stopped one to ask her where Jones's room was and after showing her their badges they got the directions to Jones's room. The directions lead them to a room with a small white sign with Margret Jones written on it along with the names of two other patient names and the doctor's name. They entered the room to find Jones sitting up groggily in the bed furthest from the door, the room had the same impeccably clean look and smell that the rest of the hospital had.

"Good your here maybe you can get me out of here," Jones had caught sight of the two of them standing by the door. "I'm fine, but the quacks here don't seem to believe me." Reid had to stifle a laugh at her inpatients.

"You got hit in the head pretty hard," Prentiss said. "You have a concussion."

"How'd that happen," she asked looking confused.

"The UNSUB's hit you with something," Reid replied as Jones looked even more pissed off and started grumbling to herself, he could have sworn that he heard her threaten to shoot the bastards.

"Do you remember anything at all?" Prentiss asked.

"Besides getting hit in the head," Jones sighed. "Nope. I mean I saw you two coming out of the woods which I thought was weird because I'd left you guys just minute ago."

"You saw two people coming out of the woods?" Prentiss asked.

"I just said that," Jones seemed to be struggling not to role her eyes.

"Then you got hit in the head?" Reid asked.

"Yes," this time she did role her eyes. Prentiss stood up.

"We'll be back later," she quickly walked out followed by Reid.

"That wasn't Morgan and I," Prentiss said still walking fast.

"Then there's more than two UNSUB's," Reid said trotting to keep up with her as they left exited the hospital through the glass doors. Prentiss shrugged pulling out her keys.

"There's at least three of them now," she said pulling open the door and starting the car.

Night was falling by the time that the statement JJ released to the media was showed on TV. The FBI agents and several members of the sheriff department were sitting by the dozen phones that were set up.

"Garcia are you ready?" Hotch asked her at her office in Quantico.

"I was born ready," she chirped in reply. Outside the moon was slowly climbing in the sky while stars appeared as the officers fielded dozens of calls, almost all of them were useless. Riley's phone started ringing again.

"Hello, this is the-," he started to say for the ump-teeth time when the person on the other end interrupted him.

"I wish to speak to Agent Aaron Hotchner the agent in charge of the Hill Lake Strangler case," a male voice replied quietly.

"Who is this?" Riley asked, he was getting a feeling that this was not a crack call. Nobody answered, just a light breathing noise, Riley pushed the mute button so the caller couldn't hear him and waved over Agent Hotchner.

"Yes," Hotch asked.

"I think this is him," Riley said talking low even though the mute was on.

"Garcia line six," Hotch spoke into the phone he was holding.

"Give me a couple of minutes," she said running her program to find where the call was coming from.

"Take the mute off," Hotch ordered, Riley did so and Hotch took the phone from him.

"This is Agent Aaron Hotchner," he said a slight scuffle on the other end.

"Hey," a voice hissed on the other end in a slightly muffled tone as if someone was trying to cover up the end of the phone, but not succeeding. "He's on, what do I do?"

"Just read him this," a female voice ordered.

"But I don't want to-" a smack and a cry of pain sounded.

"I want you to take your team and leave or one of your agents is going to pay the price," the girl had taken the phone and spoke into with a clear, demanding tone.

"I can't do that," Hotch replied as Morgan waved a hand to show that Garcia had traced the call.

"Then you are indeed a larger idiot then you look," the girl snapped and slammed the phone down.

"She got it then," Hotch asked placing the phone back down.

"4913 Windsor Lane!" Garcia shouted excitedly out of the phone.

"That's an old abandoned house on the outskirts," Riley said standing up. "It's less than 15 minutes away." They ran out of the station and into the cool, dark night.


	8. Chapter 7: Windsor Lane

Silence in the Scars

By: A.M. Anderson

Chapter 7: Windsor Lane

**Disclaimer: I do not own Criminal Minds nor the characters. I do own my characters. Warning: Violence **

A cool night breeze drifted lazily over a group of people illuminated by the glowing full moon that hung high in the sky, a rather large dilapidated building was silhouetted in the half light. There was no sign of life, but then again it looked like nobody had lived in this house for about twenty years. Outside the BAU team of profilers and Hill Lake police force where gathered with SWAT. Reid, Morgan, and Riley went around front with a small team of SWAT while the others split up and went around the sides of the house. When they tried the door they found it was locked so Morgan, as he always did when there was something in his way, kicks it open.

The inside of the house was almost pitch black, the only light source came from holes in the roof and the flashlight beams from the team of rescuers. A creaky staircase lead up to a second floor, Morgan nodded for half the SWAT and Riley to follow him, leaving Reid to investigate the ground floor. The only noise came from creaks in the floor board under people's feet and the wind which occasionally came whistling through the cracks in the walls. There were so many rooms and hallways on the first floor that the SWAT slowly became spread out, checking behind piles of furniture or behind the doors.

Reid walked across the larger room and saw a long hallway that ended in a door painted in flaking and chipping white paint, he walked as silently as his feet would allow down the apparently deserted hallway. The light from his flashlight flitted over the assorted jumble of objects that lie on the floor. He kept his gun pointed ahead in case the UNSUB was there. Reid entered a room close to the end of the hallway and quickly scanned it with his flashlight, it was empty except for a small pile of boxes. A creak like a footstep on the old wooden floor behind him, but before he could turn around or call for the others a hard blow to the back of Reid's head made him fall to the floor unconscious.

Meanwhile, the rest of the BAU team and other S.W.A.T were assembling after a frustrating dead-end search had revealed no UNSUB and no girl.

"There was no sign of the UNSUB," Emily Prentiss was telling Hotch. "They must have left after the call was made.'

"There was no sign of them ever having been here," Rossi said.

"Have you guys seen Reid?" Derek Morgan asked joining them.

"No," Prentiss told him. "He was on the ground floor with the rest of the SWAT,"

"I know," Morgan replied worried. "He should be back by now, the SWAT that was on the ground floor is back," JJ hurried up to the group looking worried and holding an evidence bag.

"Nobody's seen him," she told them quickly and quietly. "And there was this on the floor in the back room." She handed Hotch a ripped piece of paper in an evidence bag. The team could see that a short note was written on it in jerky handwriting.

"Stop hunting us and I'll let the Agent Spencer Reid go," Hotch read from the small scrap of paper. "Keep searching and he is dead," The team looked at each other startled as Hotch fell silent.

"You have two days to give us your answer," JJ repeated the rest of the note from memory.

"Everyone spread out and search the grounds and the house," Hotch ordered. "There's a chance they could still be here." The team, other officers and S.W.A.T members spread out. The started searching the house and combing the grounds and field for any sign of Reid or the UNSUB, nobody saw the pair of tail lights speeding over the hill in the distance.

"Reid!" Voices rang out as the surrounding area was being searched. All too soon morning began to show peak out from behind the hill and the searchers hadn't been able to find the youngest agent.

"Hotch there's tire marks leading away from this spot here," Morgan said wearily from a little ways off the side of the house. JJ walked over to him, the lack of sleep etched in her face as she looked at the house from where he was.

"There's a door," she pushed away some of the vines that had taken root in the wall to revile a small almost unnoticed door.

"So they waited here until what?" Prentiss asked pushing her hair back irritably.

"There was only one person," Morgan suggested. "The note looks hastily written."

"We have no suspects and no leads, "Hotch said frustratingly. "All we have is five dead girls and two days to find Reid." The team glanced at each other in surprise, Hotch rarely ever lost his temper in a case, even if it got personal. Before anyone could say anything Riley came running up to them excited and waving an evidence bag. Apparently lack of sleep and stress had no effective on him Prentiss thought glaring at him.

"I found this," he panted slightly out of breath and handing the bag to Rossi who was closest to him.

"It's a locket," he showed the rest of them the small, golden, heart shaped locket that was resting with its broken chain at the bottom of the bag.

"It opens," Prentiss commented seeing a hinge and clasp on it. Pulling on the blue crime scene gloves so as not to contaminate any evidence that might be on the smooth surface she took the bag from Rossi and pulled out the locket carefully. Opening it she saw one the right side there was a very tiny picture of a guy with long blond hair and a jock like air about him, on the other side was a quote, True Love Never Dies. Showing this all to the others.

"That was written on the first note with the flowers," Morgan said.

"Let's get the picture to Garcia," Hotch said running a hand threw his hair and suddenly looking ten years older. The team started to leave hesitating, hoping against hope that Reid would just suddenly appear out of the trees but Reid was already miles away.


	9. Chapter 8: The Shack in the Woods

Silence in the Scars

By: A.M. Anderson

Chapter 8: The Shack in the Woods

**Disclaimer: I do not own Criminal Minds nor the characters. I do own my characters. Warning: Violence and swearing**

Reid's head hurt, a lot, the way Morgan was driving wasn't helping it ether, he opened his eyes intending to tell Morgan to drive more carefully only to find pitch black. His eyes widen in alarm and panic set in as he tried to remember what had happened to him.

"They had traced the call and where going to the house," Reid thought trying to clear his head from the statistics about getting out of this alive. "I was looking in the hallway, but no one was there."

Lifting a hand up he felt the gash near his hair line and a small trickle of blood running down his face, only then did he realize that his hands were tied.

"Now where was he?" He thought tugging uselessly at the rope on his wrist. The ground under his body was carpeted and he could feel the rumbling of what he assumed was an engine. "I'm in a car," he mused quietly while checking to see if he had his gun or cell phone, unfortunately they were both gone along with his bulletproof vest. With his head still pounding he tried to formulate a plan, but he couldn't think straight, eventually giving up and tried to ignore the stabbing pain in his head every time the car hit a pothole. After what felt like hours, but must have been an hour at the most, the car stopped and the engine turned off, three doors opened and slammed as Reid lay still and waited, holding his breath.

"Tyler," a girl's voice said angrily and slightly muffled, Reid recognized it from the phone call. "Why don't we just kill him and be done with it."

"Because Zoe," snapped the person named Tyler back. "You had to be the idiot and suggest kidnapping a FEDERAL OFFICER."

"Hadn't Carrie's mom said something about a Zoe?" Reid thought, trying to remember what JJ had told him.

"Hey relax guys," said a third much deeper voice. A jingling of keys filled the thick silence as someone fumbled with the keys to what Reid assumed was the trunk he was stuck in.

"Shut up Jack," Tyler growled as the trunk suddenly was flung open and Reid found himself looking up into the faces of three people illuminated by one flashlight and the moon. The only girl had long red hair and looked like she couldn't have been any older then 20, she was pointing the gun at him with a dangerous smile in her blue eyes.

"Get up," she said slowly. Reid pushed himself up with his bound hands, he figured it was best not to argue with her seeing as just a moment ago she wanted to shoot him and she probably wouldn't hesitate to do it. Standing on his slightly shaking legs, he could see the other two guys better now. They were standing slightly apart, the one closest to him had short, spiky hair and his blue eyes kept throwing glares at the girl, Reid assumed he was Tyler. The guy he assumed was Jack was standing a little way off, he had long blond hair, brown eyes, and had a jock like air about him, Reid assumed he was the oldest, placing his age around 25 or 30.

"You're Agent Spencer Reid," Jack asked slamming the trunk shut and making Reid flinch slightly.

"Doctor," he corrected automatically.

"Whatever," Tyler muttered glaring at the ground.

"You can't be a doctor," Jack said mildly.

"Would you two shut up," Zoe growled. Reid swallowed nervously, she was already angry as it was, he didn't want to anger her further.

"Look here you," Tyler rounded on her. "You have been ordering use around since the beginning and look what's happened now!"

"Everything is under control," she replied steadily.

"No it fucking well isn't!" He shouted back. She whirled around, pointing the gun directly between Tyler's eyes.

"I'm not discussing this, bring the agent inside," she said with deadly calm. "Or I can put a bullet in that useless brain of yours." They glared at each other for a couple more minutes until Tyler turned away.

"Come on," he muttered roughly grabbing Reid by the arm and pulling him along to a small shack that he had missed earlier. He winced slightly at the tight grip on his arm.

"You know you don't have to do this," Reid said. He was scared. Tyler seemed like he would be the easiest one to convince that this was wrong.

"Stop talking," Tyler said. He pulled Reid's arm roughly causing him to stumble.

"You could just call my team," Reid said. "Zoe wouldn't even -" Tyler smacked him in the head with his flashlight. Reid hit the ground unconscious. His last thought was how long it would be before they killed each other, or him


	10. Chapter 9: Day One

Silence in the Scars

By: A.M. Anderson

Chapter 9: Day One

**Disclaimer: I do not own Criminal Minds nor the characters. I do own my characters. Warning: Violence and swearing**

The team of BAU profilers, minus Reid, sat the police station, staring at the board of victims and evidence. Stress and the lack of sleep were etched clearly in every line on their haggard faces, cups of long cold coffee sat forgotten on the wooden table. Each team member was lost in their own thoughts as the sun peaked through the open windows, casting its warm light into the silent room. They had spent the last hour trying to piece together a new profile to give the cops, but their minds were wondering where Reid was, eventually each of them had relapsed into quiet, silence that now filled the room.

Morgan checked his phone for what felt like the hundredth time since that got back to the station. He wanted to hit the table in frustration, yell, do something anything, but sit there and wait for Garcia to call him back. The undeniable feeling that this was all his fault had taken root in his mind and no matter how many times JJ or Garcia told him that it wasn't his fault he knew that it was his fault. He was the one that always had Reid's back. The kid was a magnet trouble, getting himself blown up, being held hostage by a religious cult, or getting held hostage by a delusional UNSUB on a train, although, Morgan thought smiling slightly, Reid had volunteered for that one.

The sharp, shrill ring of a cell phone cut through the silence, making everyone jump and look around, alarm and worry briefly crossing their faces before Hotch realized it was his cell phone ringing. He flipped it opened and groaned when he saw Strauss's name in the caller ID. Sighing inwardly he stood up and slipped outside into the almost deserted main part of the police station. Closing the door behind him he flipped open the phone.

"Agent Hotchner," he said answering it.

"Agent Hotchner is there a reason that you haven't called me," Strauss's sharp, biting tone reprimanded him in his ear.

"It slipped my mind," Hotch replied, his brow furrowing slightly, it had slipped his mind to call her.

"I understand that something happened on the raid of the suspected UNSUB's house," Strauss continued. "Can you elaborate?"

"One of our agents was abducted by the UNSUB," his tone clipping slightly.

"Which agent?" She actually sounded concern, Hotch was somewhat surprised at this.

"Reid," he replied in his stiff manner, no need for her to think that they would get emotionally involved with the case. There was a moment of silence from her end of the phone, through the glass window Hotch could see Morgan getting a phone call from whom he could only assume was Garcia with news on what she had found.

"Agent Hotchner," Strauss's voice brought him back to the current conversation he was in. "I trust that you will call me when you find your missing agent."

"Of course," Hotch stood there slightly shocked for a minute, she was actually going to let them stay in the case. He quickly put his phone back into his pocket and went back into the room to join the others.

The first thought that entered Reid's head was how much getting hit with a flashlight hurt. The dull, pounding throb had only intensified with the second blow to the head, he cracked his eyes slightly and winced at the bright sunlight streaming in through a window somewhere. Temporally blinded he closed his eyes and tried to take stock of his situation without actually opening his eyes.

His hands were handcuffed behind him with what he was fairly certain were his handcuffs. The handcuffs felt like they were strung through the back of the chair. He could feel blood caked to the left side of his face from the flashlight injury and guessed that he had a least a concussion. The handcuffs were digging painfully into his wrist. Shifting around slightly he tried to find a position that both his arms and back agreed with. Reid decided to try to open his eyes to see where he was, he opened his eyes slightly and winced as bright light assaulted his vision painfully. Squinting he looked at where he was trapped for the time being.

He knew that he was probably inside the cabin that Tyler had been dragging him towards. Craning his head he looked around the interior of the small room, it was about size of a small cubical, on the wall opposite him was an open doorway through which he could see two grimy, cracked mirrors and a dark, mottled brown door that looked to be out of a solid wood of some kind. The room he was trapped in was deserted for the most part except for the chair he was tied in, it seemed to be a normal kitchen chair.

He strained his ears trying to hear something, but he could hardly hear anything over his own haggard breathing and rapid heartbeat, he gave a few experimental tugs on the ropes on his ankles but to his dismay, they held. The sound of arguing voices drifted through one of the cracked windows causing Reid to freeze as sudden fear griped him. The kidnappers were back. He strained his ears, trying to hear what they were arguing about.

"I don't give a fuck what you think about it Tyler," Zoe yelled.

"Yeah well guess what," Tyler could be heard hollering back. "I'm done taking orders from you!" The door was thrown open with such force that it hit the wall with a loud bang and bounced off the wall causing Reid to flinch involuntarily.

"Go with Jack and find out what the feds know," Zoe snapped, her eyes were shining with pure anger. Tyler crossed his arms and glared at her. "Go!" She reached a hand almost unconsciously to her neck and sudden alarm crossed her face.

"What?" Tyler asked, slight worry evident on his face.

"My necklace is missing!" She cried in alarm, real concern flitting across her face.

"Necklace?" Tyler asked raising an eyebrow.

"The locket that Jack gave me," she snarled, the old angry Zoe back in place. The sudden, rapid changes in her behavior were starting to make Reid incredibly nervous. Tyler just muttered something as he left the small shake, Reid could hear a car engine being started and then fading as they drove off. He was frantically trying to profile what he knew of these people from the little that he actually did know. His racing thoughts were interrupted by the sound of Zoe cocking the gun and entering the room, a leering smile dancing on her lips.


	11. Chapter 10: Good News and Bad News

Silence in the Scars

By: A.M. Anderson

Chapter 10: Good News and Bad News

**Disclaimer: I do not own Criminal Minds nor the characters. I do own my characters. Warning: Violence and swearing.**

Penelope Garcia glared at her computer screens, which on any other day she would be showering them with affection, but right now she wanted nothing better than to smash the screens. She was tired and worried sick about her junior G-man, not to mention she felt almost entirely useless sitting here while the rest of the team was out looking for Reid. She tapped one of her fuzzy pencils against her wooden desk as she impatiently waited for her computer to finish searching. Her mind wandered back to the conversation she had with Morgan, she had been all prepared to fly down to Minnesota, but Morgan had insisted that she would be more useful at Quantico searching for Reid on her computers then with them.

Shaking her head she glanced at the computer screens again only to find that it was still searching. She had run the prints through every database she could think of, only to come up empty. The picture from the locket was currently running through passport pictures and the DMV database. Drumming her pictures she almost missed the little beeping noise that emitted from her computer.

"Gotcha," she nearly shouted in triumph as she rolled her chair over to look at what her computer had found. The license and mug shot of Jack Mullery was plastered on her screen as she grabbed her phone and hastily dialed Morgan's number.

"Hey baby girl," Morgan's tired voice drifted out of the phone. "Did you find anything?"

"As a matter of fact I did," Garcia smiled as she heard him sit up straighter.

"What did you find?" He asked, hope tumbling out with the words.

"The picture in the locket," she replied twirling a pen in her hand. "It's of Jack Mullery. A local drop-out and he has a record."

"What did he get arrested for?" Morgan asked.

"Three charges of drunk and disorderly," Garcia read. "Yikes," she muttered under her breath.

"What?" Prentiss's voice sounded in her ear now, Morgan had put her on speaker phone.

"He was arrested for assaulting his ex-girlfriends new boyfriend with a tire iron," she quickly sent all the information to them. "All the information is on its way to your phones."

"Garcia can you find out where Jack Mullery lives?" Hotch asked.

"One second," she muttered typing frantically. "No current address, but he just made a purchase at the local Hill Lake Liquor Store."

"That's just down the street from here," Riley commented.

"Thanks Garcia," Morgan said. "You're the best."

"Aww," Garcia smiled broadly. "You're only saying that cause it's true." She disconnected the call and sighed, not feeling totally useless anymore.

Reid tugged again at the handcuffs again, not really expecting them to loosen, but it was better than not doing anything. Zoe had pulled a chair from one of the other rooms and sat it in front of him before sitting herself in it and smiling at him. Reid was frantically trying to profile the little he knew about them before things got out of hand.

He could tell that she was the dominant personality, the way she talked to the other two and the way she acted told him that much. He also guessed that Zoe had some psychopathic personality traits along with definite narcissistic traits. Tyler wasn't the dominant personality, but he definitely seemed more likely to be the one to lash out, or if Reid could get a chance to talk to him, call the cops. That only left the third person, Jack. Reid could tell he was the subservient personality and was being manipulated by his love for Zoe.

His rambling thoughts were brought to a sudden halt by Zoe clicking the safety off and pointing the gun at him.

_"Yep,"_ Reid thought grimly. _"Definitely psychopath."_

"So," she said as if they were having a normal conversation. "You're Agent Reid."

"Doctor," he corrected automatically.

"Aren't you a little young to be a doctor?" She asked cocking her head slightly.

"I have three PhD's," he replied nervously.

"That's impressive," she smiled sweetly. "Although I knew you had to be smart. You graduated high school when you were twelve and you are the youngest member on your team." She smiled even more when she saw the unease that flitted across Reid's face. "Yes Reid, I did my research like a good little girl. I knew the minute that the newspapers said the FBI was coming in to save the day that I had to get rid of them."

"You're not going to get rid of them by kidnapping an agent," Reid replied, licking his lips nervously.

"Maybe not," she said. "But seeing you die might make them reconsider." Reid's blood ran cold when she said that. "You were the most obvious choice to take, being the easiest target and all."

Reid frowned slightly when she called him the easiest target, it's true that he wasn't the best marksmen and would always lose in a fight, but it didn't mean he was the weakest person on the team. He hated being thought of as the weakest link, he hated not knowing where he was, and mostly he hated himself for getting himself in this situation.

"Even if you do kill me," Reid started to try and convince her.

"If?" Zoe smiled as she stood up and tilted her head, enjoying the fear that danced behind the brown eyes in front of her. "There is no if Dr. Reid. I will kill you in about two days, give or take a few hours." She turned and left the room, leaving Reid in the silence and wishing that the others would hurry up and find him.


	12. Chapter 11: Wishful Thinking

Silence in the Scars

By: A.M. Anderson

Chapter 11: Wishful Thinking

**Disclaimer: I do not own Criminal Minds nor the characters. I do own my characters. Warning: Violence and swearing.**

Spencer Reid sat quietly in the chair he was tied to as he listened with a sinking heart to the sound of Tyler and Jake driving off in the distance. Zoe had wandered off into another room and was currently out of Reid's field of vision, but the clattering of a metallic sounding object instantly put Reid's already tense mind into overactive drive as he tried to figure out what she was doing.

"You know," Zoe's drawling voice sounded from the other room. "You're awful jumpy." She walked back into his field of vision carrying a bowl. The delicious aroma of food wafted over Reid, causing his stomach to growl and reminding him that he hadn't eaten since lunch the previous day. Zoe smirked as the dragged a chair across the grim covered floor and set it in front of him. She settled herself in the chair and sat staring at him for several minutes while she ate what looked and smelt like Ramon noodles from a steaming blue bowl. Reid started studying the dirt patterns in the floor, his mind drifted off in thought as the sunlight cast its broken beams across the wooden floor.

"You don't talk much," she commented after several minutes had passed causing Reid to glance up from the floor to stare at her. She was watching him with intense interest plainly evident in her blue eyes. Reid looked at her, she looked like any other young woman. She was wearing dark blue yoga pants and a loose t-shirt. Her hair was pulled up in a ponytail, which only made her look younger than twenty.

"Why did you kill those girls?" Reid asked cautiously, waiting for her reaction.

"Cause I could," she said shrugging. "Cause it was fun, cause they were idiots who deserved to die. Take your pick." Her tone was light, as if she was commenting on something trivial like a book and not murder.

"What about Jennifer Ford?" Reid asked. He wondered about the fate of the latest kidnapped woman.

"She's dead. Had to make room for you after all." Zoe stood up suddenly, making Reid jump slightly, but she only walked back out of his view carrying the blue bowl with her. When she returned a few minutes later her hands were empty and she had a gleeful smile plastered across her face.

"So," she said sitting down again in the chair opposite Reid.

"So what?" He replied, as soon as the words were out of his mouth he could have bitten his own tongue at the stupidity of himself, but Zoe didn't seem to mind.

"Can I ask you some questions?" Reid was taken aback by her question.

"Um- well," he stammered. "Sure."

"Great!" She exclaimed happily. "Okay first question. Why did you join the F.B.I?"

"Why do you want to know?" Reid asked.

"Just cause," she said leaning forward and placing her hand in her hands as she rested her arms on her folded legs. "You fascinate me."

"Why do I fascinate you?" He asked, swallowing nervously. Reid knew his best bet was to keep her talking by asking her questions, but he also knew that he risked making her angry.

"Well for starters," she replied as she eyed him with interest. "Someone with your intelligence, you could do anything you want, but you chose to work with the BAU at the FBI. I just wanted to know why. It seems like a very depressing job what with all those nasty serial killers"

"You're a serial killer," Reid pointed out before he could stop himself. Zoe's eyes narrowed slightly as she glared at him.

"Just answer the question," she snapped, her mood changing in less than a second.

"I suppose I wanted to help people," Reid said quickly. Zoe leaned back in her chair and starred at him.

"How selfless of you," she said, sarcasm dripping from her words.

"It's the truth," Reid replied anger coloring his tone slightly.

"Appears I hit a nerve," Zoe smiled again but it didn't reach her eyes. Reid went back to studying the floor. "Are you sure you didn't join the BAU to prove that you weren't a failure?"

"What?" Reid glanced up sharply from the floor, but before she could say more the growl of an engine reached their ears.

Tyler tapped his fingers impatiently on the steering wheel as he sat fuming outside the local Hill Lake Liquor Store in the black junk car he was currently using. The whole situation had gotten further out of hand then he could have ever even predicted. It had started out as a laugh, Zoe had suggested that they stalk someone, she had even provided the perfect target. He had thought that it wasn't going to be anything more harmless then maybe giving the poor girl a scare, but then Zoe had decided that they need an even bigger thrill and before Tyler knew what was happening he had gotten caught up in Zoe's twisted mind game.

He wanted out, but he knew that the only way out now was if Zoe killed him or the cops caught them.

The image of the FBI agent they had kidnapped floated to the front of his thoughts. The kid had hardly looked old enough to be an agent, it hadn't helped that he had reminded Tyler painfully of his younger brother. He knew that Zoe planned on killing the agent, Tyler briefly considered trying to help the kid but he quickly pushed the thought away.

"Hurry up Jake," Tyler growled under his breath as he glanced nervously around the nearly deserted parking lot. The sound of police sirens in the distance did little to calm is already frayed nerves. "Finally," he muttered as he saw Jack appear at the cash register. Tyler started the car just as a black sedan pulled into the parking lot. A woman with dark hair pulled in a ponytail and an older man with dark, slightly graying hair stepped out of the passenger side while a dark skinned muscular man stepped out of the driver side. They looked slightly familiar Tyler thought as another black sedan pulled up and a blond haired women and another older man with dark hair stepped out and went over to the other people who had just arrived.

"Oh shit!" Tyler swore as he realized who had just arrived, the rest of the kidnapped agent's team. He fumbled for his phone intending to call Jake and warn him who was outside. He had just finished dialing the number when Jake walked out of the store.

"Jack Mullery!" One of the agents shouted. Tyler watched as Jake dropped his bag of booze and reached for his gun. The brown paper bag hit the ground, glass and beer soaked the paper causing it to rip into shred as the liquor ran over the pavement.

"We're dead," he thought as he watched the black agent tackle Jack to the ground. The engine revved as Tyler sped out of the parking lot, casting on last look back he saw Jack being wrestled into handcuffs.

The only thought running through Tyler's mind as he tore out of the parking lot at top speed was how the hell he was going to explain this one to Zoe.

_**Author's Note:**_

_**So the BAU caught Jack, but can they get anything out of him? And what will happen to Reid when Zoe finds out?**_

_**Comment please. They make the author happy! **___

_**3 A.M. Anderson**_


	13. Chapter 12: Lucky Break

Silence in the Scars

By: A.M. Anderson

Chapter 12: Lucky Break

**Disclaimer: I do not own Criminal Minds nor the characters. I do own my characters**

The door to the small cabin was thrown open as Tyler burst into the room. Reid could tell that something had gone horribly wrong, Tyler's eyes were wide with panic while sweat on his forehead shone in the afternoon sun.

"Where's Jack?" Zoe asked as she stood up to face Tyler. Reid guessed that judging from the tone of her voice and her body posture she knew something was wrong too.

"Um, well, he, I mean-" stuttered Tyler in fear as his blue eyes darted from Reid to Zoe, and then to the door. He looked like he was seriously regretting coming back to the cabin.

"Tyler," Zoe said slowly. Tyler flinched as though she had raised a hand to hit him. "Where is Jack?" Tyler started backing up towards the door, his only exit, but Zoe pulled out Reid's gun and pointed it at Tyler's chest.

"Zoe," he protested weakly as she moved to the door, keeping the gun on him. Reid tugged fruitlessly at his restraints, feeling useless that he couldn't do anything.

"Where, is, Jake?" She snarled, enunciating every word as she continued to back Tyler into a corner, who was looking wildly around for an escape route.

"T-the Feds got him," he muttered quietly but Zoe still heard him.

"How?" Zoe asked, placing the barrel of the gun under Tyler's chin. His eyes grew wide as the cool metal touched his skin.

"He wanted to stop for some beer and I was waiting in the car." he babbled, letting the words spilling out in a rush. Zoe's face darkened as he continued. "The Feds pulled up and when I went to call him, they shouted something. Jake tried to pull his gun, but the black agent tackled him."

"Morgan," Reid thought, smiling slightly despite the predicament. The dangerous feeling of hope grew stronger as a single thought ran through his head, "The team had caught one, they're going to be able to find me."

"AND YOU LEFT HIM!" Zoe's shouting brought him back, rather abruptly to the current danger at hand. Reid realized that she might just decide to cut her losses and shoot him now then risk getting caught by the FBI.

"Well having use both get arrested wouldn't help any better would it?" Tyler yelled back, something inside of him snapping as he shoved Zoe away from him. Anger clouded his vision as he turned to leave, but it was quickly replaced by pain as he found himself lying on the ground, starring down the barrel of the gun.

Reid's cry of warning came too late as he saw Zoe raise the barrel of the gun and pistol-whip Tyler in the back of the head. Tyler's body crashed to the dusty floor as a cry of pain and surprised burst from the young man's lips. Reid watched as Tyler sat up slowly, rubbing the back of his head as he glanced up. Tyler saw his own fear echoed in the agent's eyes and he realized what he had to do.

"You bastard," Zoe's voice cracked like a whip, causing both of them to jump and look at the insane woman, whose voice was seething with rage. "I can't believe you would be, would be so, so stupid!" Rage had rendered her almost speechless.

"Yeah well I didn't let myself get captured by the fed's." Tyler muttered under his breath. Luckily Zoe, who was taking several deep breaths in an effort to calm herself, didn't hear his remark.

"Okay, okay," she started pacing. "Here's the new plan. We kill the agent, then go and bust Jake out of jail. We'll head for Mexico or something, you know, like they do in the movies." Reid's pulse started racing as he thought desperately for something, anything to say that would prevent him getting shot, but his brilliant mind for once, and maybe the last time, failed him. Zoe smiled and pointed the gun at him.

"Head or chest?" She asked, cocking the gun.


	14. Chapter 13: Dead End

Silence in the Scars

By: A.M. Anderson

Chapter 13: Dead End

**Disclaimer: I do not own Criminal Minds nor the characters. I do own my characters. Warning: Slight mentions of rape. Violence and swearwords.**

"This is everything we have on Mullery," Riley set a cardboard box in front of the team.

"Our technical analyst found some more information as well," Hotch said as opened the box and pulled out one of the files.

"Okay Penelope, you're on speaker so behave," Morgan said as he switched his phone to speaker so everyone could hear.

"Or what?" Penelope Garcia's asked. "You'll spank me?" Morgan rolled his eyes and Riley looked at the phone with some confusion.

"Garcia," Hotch's stern tone made her blush.

"Um right," Garcia muttered, highly embarrassed. "Well one scumbag, Jack Mullery has quite the record. I went ahead and unsealed his records."

"Isn't that illegal?" Riley asked.

"Only if you get caught," Garcia replied. "Any ways, he was arrested six different times before his 18th birthday."

"What were the charges?" JJ asked from her spot against the door frame.

"Shoplifting, assault, resisting arrest, two assault with a deadly weapon, and one count of attempted rape," Garcia reeled off.

"Who filled the attempted rape charge?" Prentiss asked.

"Hold on one second," Garcia muttered as she typed. "Holy cow."

"What is it?" Morgan asked.

'The girl who filled the charges was Sydney Crawford," she replied excitedly.

"The first victim?" Prentiss asked looking at the others.

"The very same," Garcia replied.

"Thanks baby girl," Morgan said, hanging up the phone.

"Morgan, I want you and Prentiss to interrogate him," Hotch ordered, handing the case files to them.

Jack could not believe his own damn luck. The day had started off great but the freaking idiot Tyler had decided to ditch him and leave him to get arrested by the fucking feds. Tyler was so dead by the time he got out of here. He entertained himself for a few minutes by imagining all the different ways he could kill Tyler, which calmed him down some. However he couldn't be entertained by that for long and he started considering his current situation.

His left hand was chained to the underside of the table and they had taken away both his gun and cell phone. They had left him in the room for what seemed like hours with nothing to do but stare at his own reflection. Going off all the crime shows he'd seen he guessed that the cops or feds were watching him from behind the glass.

"Are you guys ever going to come in here?" Jack finally yelled in frustration at the glass. "Or do I have to sit on my sore ass all freaking day?"

The plastic chair that they had left him in was extremely uncomfortable and he was already sore from sitting.

On the other side of the glass Morgan and Prentiss were observing Jake's behavior.

"What do you think?" Prentiss asked as they watched the suspect yank on the handcuff.

"He definitely is capable of murder but I don't think he could have made the leap from petty criminal to murder with help," Morgan replied. His eyes were dark with what Prentiss could only guess as ether hatred or contempt or both.

"Let's do this," she said, picking up the case files.

"Jack Vincent Mullery," Morgan said, dropping a stack of files on the table in front of the man. "Shoplifting assault."

"Two counts of assault with a deadly weapon, resisting arrest," Prentiss continued as she pulled out the chair across from Jack and sat down.

"Do you recognize this girl?" Morgan asked as Prentiss placed Sydney Crawford's picture in front of Jake.

"No," Jake scowled, crossing his arms and glaring at the two of them as thought daring them to challenge him.

"Well she certainly knew you," Morgan said.

"She said you tried to rape her," Prentiss observed Jake's reactions. He's going on the defense, she thought happily.

"Well girls are lying bitches," he snapped.

'How about these girls?" Morgan asked as Prentiss put the pictures of the six victims on the table with Sydney's picture. "Recognize any of them?"

"No," he replied a little too quickly and without looking at any of the girls pictures. It didn't take a profiler to see that he was nervous, little beads of sweat were beading on his forehead and he was refusing to look at them, choosing instead to look at his leg which was bouncing up and down.

"See I think you did kill these girls," Morgan said softly and with danger in his voice. "And if that agent dies, I'm going to make sure you pay for that."

"Why?" Jake looked up, anger sparking in his eyes. "He a friend of yours?"

"Morgan," Prentiss warned. She could see that Jake was getting under his skin and if he succeeded then Morgan might do something stupid like hit him.

"I heard about that actually. Didn't he get kidnapped or something?" Jake grinned like a Cheshire cat. "What kind of idiot agent goes and gets themselves kidnapped? Morgan snapped, grabbing two handfuls of Jake's shirt he pulled him up as far as the chain would go.

"I'm warning you Mullery," Morgan snarled as Prentiss jumped to her feet. "He gets hurt or if anything happens to him, you will go down and I will personally make sure of it."

"Morgan!" Prentiss pulled him off Mullery who fell back into the chair, laughing. "Come on." They left the interrogation room. Morgan was still breathing heavily, Prentiss knew that he was taking Reid's kidnapping to heart, they all were.

"It's my fault Prentiss," he said softly, leaning against the closed door.

"It's not you," she began but he cut her off.

"I told him to split up," Morgan ran a weary hand over his tired face. "I left him on the ground floor."

"Morgan," Prentiss grabbed his other hand. "You couldn't have known. Nobody could have known that this would happen."

"What happened?" Hotch asked.

"He got to Morgan," Prentiss muttered in a low voice to their boss.

"Prentiss, you and JJ interrogate him tomorrow," Hotch said as the three of them made their way back to the small room.

"Zoe," Tyler approached her carefully, keeping his eyes on Reid. 'Think about this for a minute."

"Oh I am thinking," she snapped back still keeping the gun pointed at Reid's chest.

"Well killing him is not going to help get Jack back," Tyler plowed on as the Reid and Zoe both looked at him, the first with confusion and the second with annoyance. "Besides we may need to use him later."

Several seconds ticked by, to Reid it seemed like an eternity passed before Zoe spoke again.

"Fine," she lowered the gun, tucking it back into her sweatshirt. "I'm going to get some sleep, stay here and watch him." Zoe left the shack, slamming the door after her. Reid opened his mouth, but Tyler held up a hand to silence him.

"Okay," he pulled up the chair Zoe had been using and sat down in front of Reid. "She took the car."

"Why did you stop her from killing me?" Reid asked. Tyler shrugged in reply so Reid pressed on. "You know she is going to kill me eventually."

"I won't let her," Tyler replied.

"Just call my team," Reid said desperately. "You could leave before they got here."

"Zoe would rat me out in less than a minute," Tyler said. "Besides she took my cell." Reid examined the young man in front of him. Tyler's hunched shoulders emitted a defeated, sadness as though he had seen too much.

"You have a car," Reid pointed out.

"She took it," Tyler replied. "Look, maybe I can somehow get a hold of her phone tomorrow and call your team. What's their number?" Reid quickly told him Hotch's number and Tyler wrote it down on the palm of his hand in black pen.

"How did you get involved in this?" Reid asked. He had noticed that Tyler's feelings towards Zoe and Jake were ones of disdain and fear, not subservient and willing like people in his situation normally were.

"We were friends growing up," Tyler sighed, leaning back in the wooden chair. "Started out as a stupid game, just a stupid game. Then-"

"Then you killed a girl," Reid said quietly.

"No," Tyler said, closing his eyes. "Zoe did all the killing, well Jack helped but Zoe told him what to do."

Reid looked around the small shack as darkness settled around them like a thick, dark blanket. The stars poked their heads out as the moon smiled serenely on the shack, blissfully unaware of the dangers in held within. Soft snoring told Reid that Tyler had fallen asleep. This left him alone with his thoughts. His team had caught Jack, maybe he would talk, but Reid was fairly certain that he wouldn't. If Tyler didn't call his team or if Zoe somehow suspected him than Reid was almost certainly going to die here in the broken down shack.

A soft wind blew through the broken window pane, a slight shiver shook Reid's frame and the terror that he had been fighting to keep at bay suddenly rose to the surface, threatening to break loose. He didn't want to die here, not alone and not at the hands of a lunatic girl with his gun. Spencer Reid didn't want to admit it to himself, but he was scared, afraid to die. Even though every day he risked his life hunting down monsters because of his job as a profiler. Being with his friends, the team, his family made the fear disappear or fade to the back of his mind. The dull ache of loneliness threatened to overwhelm as memories flashed in front of him.

Morgan teasing him, calling him 'Pretty Boy'.

Garcia's warm and cheery smile, always ready to brighten someone's day with a hug or cookie.

JJ calling him 'Spence' or the way she smiled at him. It always made him feel like maybe he wasn't such a freak.

Reid sank slowly in to sleep, although his mind continued to swirl. Outside the shack an owl hooted softly, stretching its wings as it flew off in search of prey.

Morgan paced back and forth like a caged animal in his hotel room. Hotch had ordered him back to the hotel to get some sleep, but Derek Morgan could not sleep. Every time he laid down and closed his eyes, images of them finding Reid's dead, broken body filled his head until he wanted to scream. No, he could not, would not sleep, not when they were so close to finding Reid. His gun and badge were sitting on the table next to a full glass of brandy. Morgan had contemplated it, he wanted so badly to go back to the station, back to the interrogation room and make Jake tell him where Reid was. He knew couldn't and here he was, pacing back and forth, like a caged animal.

Emily Prentiss lay fully clothed on her hotel bed. She could hear Morgan pacing in the hotel room next to hers and knew that he was a worried as she was. Reid was the glue that held their team together and she didn't know what would happen if they found Reid in any other state other than alive and in one piece. She knew that she should get some sleep, knew that she couldn't do anything until tomorrow, but knowing and accepting were two very different things. Prentiss closed her eyes and breathed slowly in and out, in and out, she felt her mind emptying as she drifted off to sleep.

Back in Quantico Penelope Garcia sat in her office, surrounded by her computers and colorful objects. All the fuzzy pens and stuffed animals could not erase the fact she did not know where her boy genius was. Every time the team left on a case, every time she stayed behind, she feared the phone call that would confirm her worst nightmare. That one day the UNSUB might be quicker or smarter than her team was. If Reid didn't make it back she didn't know what would happen. So instead she ignored Hotch's order to go home and sleep. Instead she sat in her office, a fuzzy, pink pig clutched in her lap. She searched through her computers, looking for the answer.

Aaron Hotchner knew that chances of the members of his team sleeping would be highly unlikely. He himself was sitting in a chair next to the window a brandy glass held loosely in one hand. Years of experience had taught him that you need to have a team that worked well together, one you trusted to have your back in dangerous situations. Now he was the leader of such a team, he knew that they were close to the edge. If Reid was found in any other state than alive, well he didn't know what would happen to his team. He remembered when Reid had first joined the team, the kid had been awkward and gangly, nearly tripping over his own feet. Gideon had been so sure in Reid's potential and even now Hotch was still amazed by how much the kid knew. He lifted the brandy glass to his lips and felt the slow burn of amber liquid slide down his throat.

David Rossi lay under the covers, trying to sleep. He hadn't been part of this team long, but he understood how it worked, how much Reid meant to them. When he had first met Reid, he thought it was a joke that he was anything more than well, a kid. Rossi soon found himself impressed by the way in which Reid helped solve cases and impressing David Rossi was not an easy thing. Reid often picked up on things that the rest of them, even himself, missed. Sighing, Rossi turned over on his side, waiting to drift off to sleep.

Across the hallway Jennifer Jareau sat on the edge of her bed, staring at the floor. She knew the rest of the team wouldn't be sleeping, but why should they be. Tomorrow was the deadline that the UNSUB had set for them and even though they were closer than they had been, it didn't feel like enough. Tears gathered in the corners of her eyes, but she stubbornly wiped them away, she refused to show any weakness. They had to find Reid tomorrow, if they didn't, JJ couldn't even finish the thought. Nobody could make her laugh quite like Spencer Reid could, even when the job got to her she could always count on him to make her feel better. If she didn't have his lame jokes or odd facts than she felt the job might just swallow her whole.

_**Author Note:**_

_**I love this chapter. I think it's one of my favorites. Let me know what you guys think. Comments make for a happy author.**_

**3 A.M. Anderson**


	15. Chapter 14: The Last Day

Silence in the Scars

By: A.M. Anderson

Chapter 14: The Last Day

**Disclaimer: I do not own Criminal Minds. Gets a little sketchy between Zoe and Reid, nothing to bad or to graphic. Swearwords.**

The chirping of birds was the first thing that Spencer Reid heard when his sleep befuddled brain made it back to reality. Sunlight streamed through the windows. It would have been a perfect day to any normal person. It seemed fitting to Reid that he would die on such a nice day. He shook his head, no the team would find him. They had to.

In the chair opposite him Tyler snored, fast asleep. Reid could hear the sound of a car pulling up.

"Tyler wake up," Reid hissed. "Tyler!" The boy jerked awake at the sound of the door hitting the wall. Zoe walked in as he stumbled to his feet.

"Sleeping on the job?" She sneered. "I thought I told you to watch him."

"He's not going anywhere." Tyler replied. He glared at her as he took a few steps back, but she followed him.

"But what if he had? Then all our hard work would have been wasted!" She let her fist fly, clipping Tyler in the jaw, causing him to stumble back words into the wall. He doubled up as two more punches connected with his stomach.

"All our hard work!" Tyler wheezed out. "You mean your hard work! You wanted to do this! You, not me!" If Reid had been able to speak he would have told Tyler to shut-up, but fear seemed to have constricted his throat. Tyler seemed to realize how much trouble he was in when Zoe placed the barrel on the gun under his chin.

"How bout I solve your problems now," she said softly. The gun digging into the soft flesh of his neck. Reid could see the flash of fear in Tyler's eyes. "But you may be useful." Tyler didn't' say anything and the seconds seemed to tick by slower until she pulled the gun away. Tyler let out a shaky breath, but then Zoe turned her attention to Reid who was tied in the chair.

"So," Zoe said. She slipped her legs under the armrest so she was straddling Reid. Her face uncomfortably close to his. Reid remained silent as he leaned back as far as he could. "Guess what?" She sounded excited and happy, not murderous like before.

"What?" Reid replied. He was already pretty sure of the answer.

"I'm going to kill you today!" Zoe laughed. She put her arms around his shoulders, playing with his hair. "Aren't you going to say anything?" She leaned forward and whispered in his ear. "Say something smart?" Reid jerked his head slightly, swallowing nervously. The team would find him, they would.

"Zoe," Tyler said. He was still against the wall where she had left him.

"Go downtown and see if you can get anything on Jack," she ordered.

"But."

"Now!" Reid winced as she tightened her hold on his hair. Tyler turned, but instead of leaving he crept over to where Zoe had dropped her bag and coat.

"Usually you won't shut-up." Zoe said. She leaned closer to him. Their faces were inches apart. Her peppermint breath hot on his face. Reid would not be able to smell peppermint and not think of her.

"What do you want me to say?" Reid asked quietly. Zoe smiled and pressed her lips to his. Reid froze, completely startled. He tried to turn his head, but she tightened the vice like grip on his hair. He couldn't even fight her off, Reid hated how weak he felt. She leaned back and let go of his hair, her arms still draped around his neck. Reid wished he could wipe his mouth off.

"You know you're not a bad kisser," Zoe smiled and then to Reid's immense relief got off of his lap. Tyler was still rummaging around in her stuff and Reid knew he had to distract her.

"What about Jake?" Reid asked. Zoe's eyes narrowed.

"What about him?"

"Isn't he your boyfriend?"

"Yeah well he isn't that exciting and it's not exactly like you're going to be able to tell him." Tyler held up the cell phone, gave Reid a thumbs up, and slips out the door.

The sun had barely started to shine over the horizon, but the BAU team was already dressed and heading down to the station. Hardly anyone had slept the night before. The conversation between them was short and limited. A single thought was running through their heads, this was their last day.

"Morgan see if you can get Jack to tell us a location." Hotch ordered. Morgan nodded and headed towards the interrogation room where the local police had brought Jack.

"Hotch should I go with him?" Prentiss asked.

"No, he objectives women," Hotch replied as he picked up the case file and thumbed through it even though he knew it by heart.

"It will throw him off."

"If Morgan doesn't get anything then you and JJ can have a go at him." Prentiss nodded and went over to the map to see if she could pinpoint where Reid might be. JJ's phone started to ring. She pulled it out of her pocket and saw that it was Garcia calling her.

"Yeah Garcia?" She answered it.

"JJ I think I might have found where Reid is," Garcia practically shouted into the phone. JJ's heart soared.

"Let me put you on speaker phone," JJ said and set her phone on the table.

"What's going on?" Prentiss had noticed the change in the blonde's voice.

"Garcia thinks she found Reid."

"Garcia go," Hotch ordered.

"Well I was looking in Jack Mullery's background like Hotch told me to and I found a piece of land that is registered in his uncles name about two miles outside of the city," Garcia said. "I'm sending the coordinates to your phones now."

"Thanks Garcia," Hotch said.

"You can thank me after you get my boy genius back," Garcia replied.

"Go get Morgan," Hotch told Prentiss. She nodded and walked to the interrogation room. It was hard to keep herself from sprinting all the way down the hall.

Inside the interrogation room it was taking all of Derek Morgan's self-restraint to keep from pulling out his gun and shooting little bits of Jack Mullery off until he started talking. There was a soft knock on the door and Emily Prentiss walked in. The look in her eyes told him what he needed to know.

"Garcia found him," she said. Morgan stood up and walked out of the interrogation room, ignoring the angry shouts of Jack Mullery.

Tyler closed the door to the shack with a sense of relief. He couldn't believe that Zoe hadn't caught him taking her phone out of her bag. He walked a short distance from the shack and flipped it open. He looked at the number written on his palm, hoping that Reid had given him the correct number. Taking a deep breath he dialed the numbers into the phone.

"Hello?" A voice on the other end said after a few rings. "Who is this?"

"My name is Tyler Warren," Tyler said quietly. "I know where your agent is."

Hotch was in the middle of debriefing Morgan when his phone rang. He pulled it out, but didn't recognize the number. He answered it.

"What do you mean you know where my agent is?" He noticed the sharp questioning looks from the others. He motioned for them to track the phone call. Morgan quickly pulled out his phone and called Garcia.

"He's at Jack Mullery's uncle's cabin," the man named Tyler said. Hotch could tell he was nervous from the slight shake in his voice and the way he was speaking so quietly into the phone.

"How do you know that?"

"I'm here right now. I couldn't get away for very long. She might notice-"

"Who might notice?"

"Zoe. She's Jack's girlfriend, but she's nuts." Hotch could hear the sound of someone shouting in the background. "I've got to go, but you guys have to get here before she tries to kill Reid." Tyler hung up the phone.

"Did Garcia trace the call?" Hotch asked.

Morgan nodded. "It's from Jack Mullery's uncle's cabin."

Tyler heard Zoe shouting his name and realized he needed to get off the phone fast. He shoved it back into his pocket as the door to the shack opened and Zoe told him to get back inside.

"What's up?" He asked. Zoe didn't answer as she closed the door behind him. Tyler glanced at Reid who gave him a slight shrug as if to say he didn't know what was going on either.

"We need to figure out a way to bust Jack out of jail after we kill the doctor." Zoe said.

"Okay," Tyler said. He just needed to go along with her plans until the feds showed up and then, well he really didn't want to find that out. Zoe picked up her bag a riffled through it.

"What the-" she muttered and dumped it upside down so its contents fell onto the floor. "Where the hell is my phone?" Reid's heart jumped into his throat and Tyler froze. Reid knew that if she discovered Tyler with the phone she would shoot them both.

"What's wrong?" Tyler asked. Reid was hoping Zoe wouldn't notice the increase in octave.

"My damn phone is gone," Zoe snapped. "I must have left in the car. Let me go look." She started towards the door and had just set her hand on the handle when the sharp ringing of a phone broke the silence. Tyler froze as Zoe turned towards him. Her eyes where bright with anger. She stalked toward him, like a wolf. The phone continued to ring in his pocket.

"Give me it," she snarled. Tyler couldn't do anything. He was too scared to move. Zoe reached into his pocket and pulled out her phone. It stopped ringing, but the damage was done. Reid knew that unless the team was already on the way here they were both dead.

"Zoe," Tyler starred.

"Why the fuck is my phone in your pocket?" Zoe said. She flipped it open and hit the redial button.

"Aaron Hotchner," the voice on the other end said as it answered.

A black SUV's, followed by several police cruisers, lights and sirens blaring speed towards the coordinates that Garcia had given the team. Hotch, Prentiss, Morgan, and JJ where in the black SUV. Their expressions where grim and they all kept glancing at their watches or the digital numbers on the dashboard. Morgan gripped the wheel tightly as they speed down street after street. The sharp rings of Hotch's phone broke the tense silence. Hotch pulled it out and recognized the number as the number who had called him earlier about Reid.

"Aaron Hotchner," he said answering it.

Zoe nearly laughed when she heard the voice on the other end. Tyler had called Aaron Hotchner. The guy in charge of the team who was here, the team Reid was part of.

"Hello Aaron Hotchner," Zoe said. She pulled out her gun and pointed it at Tyler motioning for him to move over next to Reid.

"Zoe," Hotch said. In the SUV the other agents looked at him. Hotch had filled them in on what Tyler had told him.

"I can assume your little team is on the way here."

"You're holding one of my agent's hostage Zoe."

"Tyler called you. Looks like I can't trust anyone, even my own people." Zoe glared at Tyler. Her gun still aimed at the two men in front of her. Neither Tyler nor Reid spoke.

"Let Reid and Tyler go and we can talk Zoe," Hotch said. The shack had finally appeared ahead of them.

"Nope," Zoe said after a minute. "It's too late for everyone, including your agent." She aimed the gun and pulled the trigger. Hotch heard Reid shout before there was a cry of pain and a thud. The phone call disconnected as Zoe hung up.

_**Authors Note:**_

_**Like the cliff hanger? **___


	16. Chapter 15: No Happy Endings

Silence in the Scars

By: A.M. Anderson

Chapter 15: No Happy Endings

**Disclaimer: I do not own Criminal Minds nor the characters. I do own my characters. Warning: Violence and swearing.**

"Reid!" Hotch yelled desperately into the phone but the connection was already dead. A gun shot sounded, loud and harsh in the peaceful looking meadow. JJ turned pale and looked like she was about to be sick, Prentiss closed her eyes and breathed through her nose, and Morgan clenched the wheel tighter in his fists.

"Oh my god," Prentiss murmured as the black SUV skidded to halt and the agents spilled out. Behind them, the police were also exiting their vehicles and forming a perimeter around the rickety old cabin. Sheriff Jones stalked over to them. She was dressed in full sheriff uniform and, besides the bandage around her head, looked the perfect picture of health.

"Sheriff Jones," Hotch said noticing the women. "Shouldn't you be resting?"

"I can rest when I'm dead Agent Hotchner," she replied briskly.

"She told me to call her with any updates." Deputy Jonathan Riley looked sheepishly at his feet.

"What's happened?" Jones asked. She could tell just by looking at these agents that something really bad had happened. A grim weariness had settled into the lines of their faces, ageing them by ten years.

"We spoke to the female UNSUB, Zoe," Hotch began.

"That's a good thing isn't it?"

"Then there was a gun shot." Jones understood, they thought their agent was dead. Hotch's phone started ringing.

The gun shot was loud, nearly deafening Reid who looked down at his own body, half expecting to see blood leaking out of his abdomen. Reid had shouted when the gun had been fired and he glanced around for Tyler. Tyler lay on the floor next to the chair Reid was tied in. He was clenching his stomach and breathing hard, occasionally a small whimper slipped past the young man's lips. Zoe stood there, holding the smoking gun. The expression on her face was one of supreme indifference, she didn't care that she had just shot one of her friends.

"He's going to die unless he gets medical attention," Reid said, trying to appeal to whatever small sense of decency she might have.

"Then let him," Zoe said contemptuously. "He was weak, he couldn't even help you escape properly." The sound of sirens reached Reid's ears and to him they sounded like the grandest symphony on Earth. A moment later the red and blue police lights flashed through the window. Reid felt his heart lift, the team had found him. For a moment he forgot about Zoe and her gun and Tyler bleeding to death on the cabin floor, one though ran through his head, lifting his heart. They had found him.

"Dammit!" Zoe cursed loudly. Reid was brought back rather abruptly to the current situation. He was still tied to the chair, Zoe still had the gun, and, for the moment, Tyler wasn't going to be much help. Zoe turned to Tyler who was still clutching his abdomen, trying to slow the bleeding.

"This is all your fault!" She screamed at him.

"Fuck you!" Tyler coughed back. He groaned as he shifted himself so he was leaning the agent's chair. Tyler turned his head to look at Zoe. She looked positively demented, her face was contorted in such a twisted mask of hatred and rage that she looked like she was ready to rip both his and the agents throats out with her own teeth.

"What did you say to me?" She growled. Tyler rolled his eyes.

"You heard me." Zoe crossed the room to where he was sitting, propped up against Reid's chair like a marionette whose strings had been cut unexpectedly. Kneeling down she slammed her knee into Tyler's stomach, he couldn't hold back the scream of pain, white spots erupted in front of his eyes.

"Leave him alone!" Reid said loudly. Zoe looked up sharply.

"I'm sorry, what was that?" She twisted her knee, resulting in another scream of pain from Tyler.

"Leave him alone," Reid spoke more firmly this time, trying to any trace of fear out of his voice. She stood up, the pant leg on her left leg was coated in blood. Reid could hear Tyler panting as he shifted slightly. Zoe was examining Reid like he was a rather fascinating insect. He knew he had her full attention, but he wasn't sure that was a good thing. She double checked the door was locked. Then she moved around the small cabin, checking the view from all the windows before dragging the curtains close.

"I was only having fun with him." Zoe pouted slightly as she closed the last curtain with a soft snick. "Shall I have some fun with you agent?" Reid didn't answer, he felt slightly sick. He knew that Zoe would kill him before anybody could get through the door, before anybody could rescue him. Zoe set the gun on the table and rummaged in a drawer.

"Got it!" She smiled like a kid on Christmas morning, in one hand she held her phone and in the other was a small steak knife. "What do you say Reid, hmmm? Shall we make a little phone call? I'm sure that your little agent friends will want to know that I haven't killed you, yet."

Hotch fumbled for his phone. "This is Aaron Hotchner," he said as the other agents looked on, hope and fear mixed in their eyes.

"Hello Aaron," Zoe's twisted voice drifted out of the receiver. "Would you like to know the state of your agent?"

"Yes," Hotch replied.

"He's fine, Tyler on the other hand..." Zoe's voice trailed off. Hotch understood what she meant. She hadn't shoot Reid, but Tyler.

"Tyler needs medical attention," Hotch said. All they needed was for her to open the door.

"Forget about Tyler," Zoe said airily. "Do you wish to speak to your agent?"

"Yes," Hotch replied with a slight growl. There was a slight rustling and he could hear Zoe's voice, soft and dangerous, but it was impossible to make out what she was saying to the young agent.

"Hotch?" Reid's voice said. He sounded tired and scared but still hopeful.

"Yeah Reid," Hotch quickly switched his phone onto speaker phone so that everyone could hear. "Everyone is here."

"Hey buddy you hang in there, you hear," Morgan said. "Garcia will kill me if we don't bring you back in one piece."

"Morgan I -" Reid started to say but he stopped. They could hear faint murmuring in the background, Zoe said something to Reid that they couldn't hear.

"Pretty boy, you there?" Morgan said.

"She wants Jack released or," Reid paused his voice was shaking slightly, no matter how hard he tried to hide it. He swallowed and softly continued. "Or she's going to kill me."

"Reid just hang in there," Hotch said but it was Zoe who answered the phone.

"Awww, how sweet," she said snidely. "You heard what I want?"

"Jack's release."

"Yes, you have two hours."

"It's going to take longer than two hours," Hotch said. There was no way they were ever going to just let Jack go and he needed to stall for more time so they could come up with a feasible plan to get Reid out alive.

"Tut, tut." Zoe said. "That is not the correct answer." There was a cry of pain and Hotch recognized it as Reid. Hotch clenched the phone so tightly he thought it would shatter into a million little pieces. Before Hotch or anyone else could say anything else Zoe's voice once more echoed out of the phone.

"You'd better make it quick, poor little Reid isn't too much fun and who knows how long he'll last." And with that the phone went dead.

"Do you wish to speak to your agent?" Zoe asked. She smirked at Reid and spoke very softly to him. "If you say anything I don't like, I won't hesitate to use this knife on you, understand." Reid swallowed and nodded as she dangled the knife in front of him, the sunlight glinting of its sharp edge. Zoe put the phone next to his ear.

"Hotch?" Reid asked, hesitantly. Relief flooded him when heard the others. He had known they were just outside the cabin but he was happy to hear them. Reid started to reply to Morgan when Zoe placed the edge of the knife under his chin.

"Tell them I want Jack released," she slid the knife slightly, a thin line of blood trickled down Reid's neck. "Or I'm going to kill you." Reid relayed the message, trying to control the shaking in his voice.

Zoe pulled the phone away from Reid's ear and went to stand in front of him. He heard her give Hotch a two hour deadline. Reid felt his stomach drop, he knew Hotch would probably try to negotiate for more time but it would end the same way each time. There was no way that the FBI would release a criminal, even if an agent's life was on the line.

"Tut tut," Zoe said. Reid looked up, he knew what that mocking tone in her voice by now. It meant that someone was going to get hurt and that someone was looking like him. "That is not the correct answer." Zoe slammed the knife into Reid's right thigh. Reid screamed in pain, his leg felt like it was on fire, when she yanked the blade out blood oozed into the fabric of his pants.

Reid heard Zoe say something else into the phone but he couldn't hear her through the fog in his brain.

"Look at me," Zoe said. Reid brought his head up, glaring at her. His leg was throbbing and he was tired of her sick games. Zoe was still holding the knife, now coated in his blood. "Now I know that your little agent friends won't actually release Jack but I figure your screams will probably change their minds." The breath caught in Reid's throat, his brain was scrambling for something, anything at this point.

"Wait, wait," he stuttered. Zoe raised an eyebrow, her expression one of boredom. "You're surrounded -"

"Stating the obvious, and I thought you were smart."

Reid ignored her and pressed on. "The police and FBI are out there right now -"

"Again obvious," Zoe yawned and brought the knife to Reid's lower left arm.

"If you kill me they will storm the cabin, killing you in the process," Reid said quickly, the knife pressing into his the sleeve of his shirt, not yet breaking skin. "Live hostages are much more useful than dead ones."

"Who said anything about killing you Agent Reid?" Zoe pulled the knife across his arm and Reid couldn't stop the small gasp of pain that slipped past his lips. The cut was shallow and blood spread across the sleeve of Reid's white shirt, dyeing it red.

"What about Tyler?" Zoe paused a moment, glancing down at the younger man.

"What about him? He's not worth anything." Zoe pulled a chair around to face Reid. She grabbed Tyler by the arm and shoved him into it, ignoring the small cry of pain. Tyler looked terrible, the front of his shirt and both of his hands were stained red and he was terribly pale.

"You need to get him medical attention," Reid insisted. Tyler's eyes were closed and he was breathing heavily.

"That's not important." Zoe peaked through the curtains.

"But he'll die if he doesn't-" Reid started desperately. It was his fault Tyler had been shot, if Tyler hadn't tried helping him then he wouldn't have been shot.

"And what makes you think that you or Tyler is going to survive this?"

_**Author's Note:**_

_**Well the team finally got to Reid but what now. **_

_**Let me know if you liked it. **___


	17. Chapter 16: Failed Negotiations

Silence in the Scars

By: A.M. Anderson

Chapter 16: Failed Negotiations

**Disclaimer: I do not own Criminal Minds nor their characters. I do however own my character. Warning of swearing and violence.**

"And what makes you think that you or Tyler is going to survive this?" Zoe's words chilled Reid right to the bone. Sure he'd been in life-threatening situations before but never had he so harshly been face-to-face with his own mortality. The blood from his arm dripped onto the floor, creating a puddle.

"Zoe," Tyler coughed. Reid noticed with worry that he had grown noticeably paler. "It's not his fault, just-"

"You be quiet," Zoe ordered. She pointed the knife at him threateningly. "You have helped quit enough." Tyler coughed and spat a mouthful of blood on the floor. Reid took a breath and looked at Tyler, trying to remember how long someone could survive with a gunshot wound in their stomach. He thought that Tyler had an hour, at best. Zoe had to slip up soon.

"Zoe," Reid said slowly. "Killing Tyler will not make the FBI let Jake go. If you let him die than the FBI will not let Jake go." Zoe narrowed her eyes coldly. Reid's arm and leg were throbbing but his situation was not as serious as Tyler's.

"Well I can't just let him go," Zoe scoffed. "He's the reason all you're damn fed friends are here."

"You don't have to let him go. Just let someone come look at him and treat the wound." Silence filled the room as Zoe considered the options. Reid held his breath, if she refused this offer than Reid had no more cards left to play.

"Fine," Zoe said. "Try anything funny and I'll kill Tyler and whoever else comes through that door." Reid swallowed and nodded as Zoe picked up the phone.

Outside the FBI and the local police were trying to figure out a point of entry that wouldn't result in the death of Reid or Tyler.

"We can't go barging in the front door," Hotch said tiredly to a grizzled police officer who didn't seem to understand why. "The minute we try to get in that way she won't hesitate to kill Reid." The police officer grumbled something but feel silent.

"Do we know the state of Tyler?" Sheriff Jones asked.

"Zoe shot him," Prentiss replied. "Beyond that we don't know the extent of his injuries."

"Reid's been injured also but we don't know the extent of those injuries either," Morgan said. He was pissed and felt guilty. It was his fault that Reid was in this situation. If he hadn't told the kid to split up than Zoe and the others wouldn't have been able to grab him. He could feel JJ's eyes on him and guessed that she knew what he was thinking.

"Could we get a sniper to shoot through on of the windows?" Deputy Jonathan Riley suggested.

"To risky," Hotch replied, shaking his head. "The curtains are closed and judging by the thickness of the glass a sniper would need to fire at least two shoots. One to break the glass and a second to take out Zoe."

"Looks like we're going to need to rely on negotiating," JJ said. Hotch's phone started ringing.

"It's Zoe," he said before answering it. "Hotchner."

"Hello Aaron," Zoe said. "I have decided that you may send in one person to look at Tyler so that he doesn't die before I want him to."

"Tyler is still alive than."

"Yes, why would I have you come look at a corpse?"

"Alright we'll send in someone. Is there anything else that you need?"

"No. I don't want to see any cops or feds near the door though and no guns. If they have a gun, I'm killing them." The connection went dead.

"She's letting us send one person in to make sure Tyler doesn't die," Hotch told the others as he put his phone back in his pocket.

"Did she say how Tyler was injured?" Prentiss asked. Hotch shook his head.

"I'll go," Morgan volunteered.

"Are you sure?" Hotch asked. Morgan nodded. He had experience dealing with gunshot wounds when he had served in the military and then as an agent. Plus he wanted to be the one to make sure Reid was alright.

"Alright. Go get a med kit and leave your gun." Morgan headed over to the SUV's, JJ hot on his heels.

"You know it's not your fault," she said softly as Morgan took off his gun and holster.

"Of course it's my fault," he replied. "I told Reid to investigate the hall, I gave him too few of men to do it with. There was no one to watch his back." JJ looked at him sadly.

"Reid is an FBI agent, he can look out for himself."

"Yeah, but it's my job to watch his back and I failed. Now he's stuck in that shack with a crazy women and it's my job to get him out in one piece." Morgan picked up the med kit and walked back over to the others, leaving JJ by the SUV.

Zoe was pacing back and forth in front of the door, tapping the gun against her leg. Tyler was still slumped across from Reid in the chair that Zoe had thrown him in. Blood leaked slowly from in between his fingers. Reid couldn't stop his leg from bouncing. He was trying to figure out who would be coming through the door.

It wasn't going to be any of the police officers or even Sheriff Jones. It also wasn't going to be JJ, Reid thought, she doesn't have enough experience yet to be going into to the middle of a hostage situation. Hotch would be the most likely choice but Reid figured that the head of the team would remain outside the shack to call the shots and figure out a plan of entry. Rossi was the next member of the team with experience but Reid would rather have Rossi working on a way into the shack with Hotch. That left either Morgan or Prentiss. Reid thought it could be Prentiss because she was excellent at compartmentalizing and reading the situation without letting her emotions cloud her judgment. However Reid hoped that it would be Morgan. Reid hadn't known Prentiss as long as he had known Morgan for. Although Prentiss was as good of an agent as Morgan was and had proven it Reid did not have as deep a friendship as he had with Morgan.

A knock on the door interrupted Reid's thoughts. Zoe stopped her passing and, holding up the gun, pulled the door open. Morgan entered, his hands raised, the med kit slung over his shoulder. Reid felt a rush of relief. Morgan offered a small smile as Zoe pointed the gun at him.

"Who are you?" She asked as she patted the sides of his pant legs, looking for a gun.

"Derek Morgan," Morgan replied. His voice was even and his face expressionless.

"Let me see the bag." Zoe turned the bag upside down, dumping the contents on the floor. "No gun, good. Tyler's over there." Morgan nodded and picked up the supplies, casting Reid a sideways glance.

"You okay kid?" He asked quietly as he knelt by Tyler. Reid could see him eyeing the two stab wound with concern.

"Yeah," Reid replied. That wasn't entirely true. Both wounds were still oozing blood and they were still throbbing.

"No talking," Zoe snapped. Morgan treated Tyler's wound as Zoe watched him with narrowed eyes.

"Tyler needs serious medical attention," Morgan said.

"He's not leaving. Now finish up."

"Hotch is working on a plan," Morgan said quietly as he wrapped an ace bandage around the gunshot wound. "Just don't get shot before we can get you."

"I said no talking!" Zoe screeched. She stormed over to the agent, raising the gun.

"Morgan look out!" Reid yelled a warning. Morgan looked up and ducked as Zoe tried to pistol-whip him. Reid pulled at the handcuffs as Zoe spun towards him, grabbing the back of his hair, yanking his head back.

"How does you know him? Who the fuck are you?" Zoe growled. She placed the gun underneath Reid's chin. "Tell me or I'll kill him now." Reid squeezed his eyes shut, trying not to panic. Morgan glared at Zoe.

"SSA Derek Morgan of the FBI," he replied.

"SSA? What's that?"

"Supervisory Special Agent." The grip on Reid's hair tightened causing him to let out a squeak of pain.

"Goddamn feds," Zoe snarled through clenched teeth. "Get out." The gun dug into Reid's neck. Morgan didn't move his muscles tense.

"Let Reid go," he said. Zoe stuck the gun in the waistband of her jeans and undid the handcuffs, pulling Reid out of the chair. Morgan took a step forward but Zoe stuck the gun back under Reid's chin.

"Get the fuck out or I swear to god." The gun was digging into Reid's windpipe making it hard for him to draw a breath.

"Morgan," he choked out. Zoe was itching to shoot someone, Morgan was right by the door and had a chance to leave before Zoe pulled the trigger.

"Take it easy pretty boy," Morgan said evenly. His eyes were locked on Zoe's. Reid knew that it was hopeless to try and get the other agent to leave.

Outside Hotch was staring at the shack. His face unreadable, but it was merely a mask that he had perfected over the years. It had saved his life a few times. Don't let the killer know what you're thinking and don't let the police know that you're unsure. Hotch's thoughts were in turmoil. Two of his agents were inside that shack, both unarmed, with a mentally unstable women. He was out of ideas. Luckily they had given Morgan an earpiece before he had gone inside. Now they could at least hear what was going on in the shack.

"Morgan look out!" That was Reid. Hotch leaned towards the speaker.

"What's going on?" Rossi asked. He had been talking with Sheriff Jones. There was a sharp cry of pain from Reid and then Zoe was yelling.

"She knows Morgan's an agent," Prentiss said worriedly. Her hand drifted to the gun at her hip.

"Tell your men to be ready to go," Hotch told Sheriff Jones. "If Zoe decides Morgan is a threat than we need to be ready to make entry." Jones nodded and went over to her police officers.

"Sounds like she's devolving," Prentiss said as the agents listened to the exchange between Morgan and Zoe.

"Let's go," Hotch ordered.

"Get the fuck out!" Zoe yelled. She tightened her grip on Reid's hair causing him to wince in pain. He was no longer restrained in the chair, but the situation was hardly looking good. Zoe was devolving quickly and had the gun jammed under Reid's chin. If she decided to pull the trigger there wasn't going to be anything Reid or Morgan could do about it.

"Zoe," Morgan said. He had raised his hands as if to show he meant to harm. "Put down the gun and let Reid go." There was a shuffling sound from were Tyler was sitting out of Reid's field of vision.

"How about I shoot him and then you," Zoe snapped.

"You're surrounded by the FBI," Morgan replied. "Even if you did kill Reid you wouldn't stand a chance."

"How about you fu-" Zoe started to say. There was a scuffle and Reid felt himself being pushed sideways. He tugged loose of Zoe's grip and spun to see what was happening, nearly falling as his weight was placed on his wounded leg.

Tyler was grappling with Zoe for the gun. His surprise had given him the upper hand but now his wound was slowing him down. Zoe wasted no time in elbowing Tyler in the stomach. He fell writhing in pain and she pointed the gun at him.

"No!" Reid cried. He took a step forward and stumbled. Zoe pulled the trigger and Tyler went still. Morgan appeared at his side, steadying him with a hand to the arm.

"This is your fault!" She yelled. Zoe raised the gun, pointing it at the two agents. There was a loud bang and a yell as she pulled the trigger.

_**Author's Note:**_

_**Don't you just love my cliff hangers? **____** Let me know what you think of it so far.**_


	18. Chapter 17: Bullet Wounds

Silence in the Scars

By: A.M. Anderson

Chapter 17: Bullet Wounds

**Disclaimer: I do not own Criminal Minds nor the character. I do own my characters. Warning for swearing and violence.**

"This is your fault!" Zoe yelled. She raised the gun, pointing it at the two agents. There was a loud bang and a yell as she pulled the trigger. Reid pushed Morgan sideways out of the path of the bullet.

"Reid," Morgan yelled. The blonde agent collapsed to the floor with a cry of pain.

"Dammit," Zoe swore. "I wasn't aiming for him!" Morgan crossed the floor to where Zoe stood. Before she had time to react he grabbed the gun and twisted it out of her hands. It hit the floor and Morgan kicked it away. Morgan hissed as her nails raked across his face as she struggled to get loose. The door smashed open as she kneed him in the stomach and got her hands free. Zoe was about to make a dive for the gun but Prentiss pointed her gun at the girl.

"FBI, don't move," she ordered.

Outside the team of profilers and the police were about to break down the door. The bang of the gun made them freeze for a moment. Hotch and Prentiss were at the front door.

"Go," Hotch ordered the officers holding the battering ram. They swung it at the door and the door smashed open. The agents and police streamed in with shouts of, "FBI" and "Police." Prentiss saw Morgan loose his grip on Zoe and saw her start to move to the gun on the floor.

"FBI, don't move," Prentiss ordered. Zoe froze, anger reddening her face. Prentiss kept the gun on Zoe as the girl got to her knees, putting her hands behind her head. She could see Reid laying on the floor. Morgan was already kneeling beside him, putting a hand on the younger agent's stomach. Hotch handcuffed and read Zoe her rights. Putting her gun away Prentiss crossed over to where the body of Tyler lay still, not moving at all. Blood pooled around the body and, already knowing it was too late, Prentiss knelt and tried to find the faintness trace of a pulse. There was none.

"Prentiss," Morgan said. She came over by him and Reid. He had his hands pushed tight against Reid's abdomen.

"Tyler's dead," she replied to his questioning look. "What happened?"

"Zoe," Morgan said. Reid gave a slight whimper of pain as Morgan pushed down harder. "She shoot him."

"Hotch, call an ambulance," Prentiss said. "Reid's been shot." Hotch glanced away from Zoe to look at the three agents.

"Hey pretty boy," Morgan said. "Look at me. How you feeling?"

"Like I've been shot," Reid replied. Morgan grinned.

"I don't think I've ever heard you make a sarcastic remark before."

"Looks like it went through his side," Prentiss said softly to Morgan. "Best case it just went through his abdominal muscles."

"Worst case?" Morgan whispered back, pressing a little more firmly on Reid's stomach. The blood was still leaking out between Morgan's fingers.

"Worst case, it could have hit any number of organs."

"Ambulance is on the way," Hotch said. Zoe was being taken away by Sheriff Jones.

"I'll fucking kill you for this!" Zoe screeched. "I swear to god I'll-"

"No one cares sweetheart," Jones said. She dragged Zoe out of the cabin and into one of squad cars. The ambulance pulled up as the squad car left.

"Is Tyler?" Reid asked. From his position he couldn't see Tyler's body.

"Zoe killed him," Morgan said. Reid nodded and glanced away. Zoe had been the one to pull the trigger but Reid was the one who had pushed him into calling the FBI.

"It's not your fault," Morgan said. He could guess what was going through the genius's head. Reid opened his mouth to reply but the medics entered the shack.

"Sir, please step back," one of the medics addressed Morgan who still had his hands on Reid's stomach.

"They got him Derek," Prentiss said. Morgan took a step back, letting the medics place Reid on a stretcher and wheel him out of the shack and into the waiting ambulance.

"I should probably call Garcia," Morgan said.

"Call her on the way to the hospital," Prentiss replied.

Back at Quantico Penelope Garcia sat in her office. The team had gone to the shack ages ago and she had yet to hear from any of them. Obviously Reid was there or they would have called her way before now. She needed to hear from them. Several times she had picked up the phone and had been half-way through dialing Hotch or Morgan's number. Before she completed it though she put the phone down. If Reid was being held hostage than the others did not need her distracting them when they were trying to focus.

She shifted around some papers and tried to find more information on the UNSUBS. There wasn't much that they didn't already know. Her phone started ringing. She grabbed before the second ring.

"Hello," she said.

"Hey baby girl," Morgan said.

"It's about time you called me Derek Morgan," she snapped. "What has happened with my boy genius? Is he alright?"

"We got him out, Tyler's dead," Morgan paused. Garcia could hear a pause in his voice, something bad had happened.

"But?"

"Reid was shot. We're heading to the hospital right now."

"Oh god," Garcia muttered. Tears forming in her eyes. They had found the found Reid but they might have lost him. Life was so unfair sometimes.

At the hospital Prentiss and Derek pulled up just in time to see Reid being whisked away inside on a stretcher. Both agents ran up to the door.

"I'm sorry you can't go through here!" A man in scrubs stopped them. Behind the orderly Reid was being pushed through a door.

"FBI," Morgan said. His eyes still on the spot where Reid had gone through the door.

"That man you just came in," Prentiss said. "He's with us. What is his condition?" The orderly picked up a chart from the counter and scanned through it.

"White male, late twenties, single gunshot wound to the torso," the man read off the chart. "He has been taken in for surgery. Now that's all I can tell you. Can you please go to the waiting room?"

"Thank you," Prentiss said. She grabbed Morgan by the arm and pulled him out the door.

In the waiting room Derek Morgan and Emily Prentiss were waiting for any word from the doctors. Prentiss stood up and got a coffee for herself and Morgan. Two hours passed and still no word. Hotch, JJ, and Rossi entered the waiting room.

"Any word on Reid?" JJ asked. Her eyes wide and worried.

"Nothing yet," Prentiss replied. "All we know is that he is in surgery."

"I'm going to see if I can find out anything from the doctors," Hotch said. He and Rossi headed over to the front desk. JJ sat down on the other side of Morgan. He was staring at the coffee in his hands.

"Hey," JJ said. "You alright?"

"Reid shouldn't have gotten shot," he said.

"It was Zoe who shot him," Prentiss said.

"Yeah but she was aiming for me," Morgan replied. "Reid pushed me out of the way."

"It's not your fault," JJ placed a calming hand on Morgan's arm.

"Why is always Reid who ends up getting injured or shot?" Morgan grumbled.

"He's accident prone I guess," Prentiss replied with a small smile. A doctor entered the waiting room.

"Group for Spencer Reid?" The doctor asked. His name tag read Andre Chen.

"I'm SSA Aaron Hotchner," Hotch said as the group of agents stood up. "Reid is a member of my team."

"Spencer Reid, white male, 27, gunshot wound to the torso," Dr. Chen read from the chart. "He just came out of surgery."

"How is he?" Morgan asked.

"The bullet was lodged in his abdominal muscles but it had missed all his vital organs," Dr. Chen informed the group. "However he did lose a substantial amount of blood and surgery was required to remove the bullet. He also suffered a stab wound to the right thigh, a shallow cut to his lower left arm, and a mild concussion. Both the wounds have been treated but I want to keep him here for a few days to make sure that no infection sets in. He is sleeping right now but he should be waking up soon. Would you like to see him?"

"Yes," Hotch replied for the whole group. Dr. Chen handed a blonde nurse the patient file and instructed her to show them to Reid's room.

It wasn't a long walk but Morgan was having a hard time remaining at a walking pace. He wasn't going to believe that Reid was alright till he saw him.

"Alright," the nurse said. "Here is Spencer Reid's room. Now if you can please be quite. He is still slightly sedated and will wake up on his own." The agents nodded as they entered the hospital room.

Spencer Reid lay asleep in the hospital bed. His skin was slightly pale and an IV was hooked up to his arm. White bandages covered both his wrist and his left arm. He didn't look the picture of perfect health but at least he was alive.

The BAU team pulled up chairs around the hospital bed. JJ took Reid's hand and gently brushed off some of the hair that had fallen in his face. He shifted slightly in his sleep. Morgan relaxed into the hard hospital chair. Reid was going to be just fine.

_**Author's Note:**_

_**I have no medical knowledge. I pulled some of this info of the web. Let me know if anything is inaccurate please. **_

_**Looks like Reid is now safe and will live. About a chapter or two more at this point.**_


	19. Chapter 18: Wrapping Up Loose Ends

Reid had been discharged from the hospital a few days later with orders to take it easy. Hotch had ordered him to take a month off with strict orders not to do anything stupid. At first Reid was grateful for the opportunity to sleep but, as his pain medicine ran out, he started having nightmares. The gunshot wound had healed completely and all that was left was a small circular scar. Outwardly he looked completely fine and healthy however he couldn't fall asleep without dreaming about the shack. Garcia and JJ came by whenever they could and occasionally Emily would stop by to see how he was doing. Once the month was up Reid was glad to be able to finally return to work.

The night before Reid returned to work he was laying on his couch rereading Dante's Inferno when a knock at the door brought him out of his reading.

"Hey pretty boy," Morgan called. "I know you're in there." Reid groaned and got up. He had been laying at a funny angle while reading and was regretting it now. Morgan knocked again as Reid unlocked the new lock on the door. His old one had been fine, but he felt safer with this one.

"What do you want Morgan?" Reid pulled open the door. Morgan stood on the other side of the door holding out Reid's gun and badge.

"Thought I'd return these before tomorrow," Morgan said. When Zoe was arrested everything in the shack turned into evidence, including Reid's gun and badge.

"Oh uh, thanks," Reid extended a hand to take them but Morgan simply brushed past him and walked into the apartment. "Come on in."

"What book is this?" Morgan asked. He picked up Reid's copy of Dante's Inferno, flipping it closed so he could read the cover.

"Don't do that!" Reid tugged the book out of Morgan's grasp. "You lost my spot."

"Oh like you don't remember what page you were on,"

"442," Reid replied. He placed the book down on the coffee table. Morgan put Reid's gun and badge on the table next to it.

"What have you been doing on your time off?" Morgan asked. He headed to the fridge.

"Reading."

"Please tell me that's not all you've been doing." Morgan pulled a beer out of the fridge. Reid hardly ever drank beer except when they were out at the bar. He always kept a case in the fridge in case Morgan or anyone else from the team stopped by.

"I-"

"If you say you watched Star Trek I'm not giving you your gun back," Morgan replied. Reid closed his mouth. He had indeed watched Star Trek.

"So they released the evidence," Reid asked. He had been eager to get his badge and gun back. It wasn't as though he really needed them, he just felt naked without them.

"Hotch said they didn't need to keep the badge and they had ballistics and pictures of the gun. It isn't as if they don't know where to find you if the need to submit the gun for evidence," Morgan said casually.

'Yeah," Reid said softly. He glanced at the gun. Tyler's face flashed in his mind.

"It's not your fault," Morgan said, guessing Reid's thoughts.

"What?" Reid asked.

"Tyler's death, isn't your fault."

"He was trying to help me Morgan and Zoe she shot him with my gun."

"You didn't pull the trigger kid," Morgan took another sip from the bottle, watching the younger agent. He had been relieved to find him relatively unharmed and in one piece. Tyler hadn't been innocent but he had tried to make up for it before the end. Sadly that had cost the young man his life. Morgan didn't know all of what had happened in the shack before the FBI had gotten there. He had read the report that Reid gave but he had a feeling that events had been omitted.

"He never wanted to help them," Reid said. He looked at his hands. "And he's dead because he tried to help me."

"He did help you Reid."

"I keep dreaming about it," he admitted quietly. "Usually it's the same but sometimes it's one of you guys who gets shot."

"How long have they been going on?" Morgan asked.

"Since my medication ran out."

"You sure you want to go back? Hotch said he can give you more time off if you need -"

"No, I want to go back. Sitting around here is driving me crazy. I need to be doing something," Reid said firmly.

"Okay," there was silence. "When is the trial date set for?" Morgan asked.

"Next week on Tuesday," Reid replied. "The prosecutor said I don't have to be there. They can use my statement, besides, they have enough to convict without me."

"I heard the defense might try for an insanity plea."

"She's definitely crazy," Reid said nodding his head.

"Well yeah, if she kissed you pretty boy," Morgan said with a smirk as he took another sip from the bottle.

"Shut-up," Reid said his face turning red as Morgan laughed at him.

_So here is the end. Thanks for everyone who read and commented. I will most likely do a sequel but I'll write it all out before I start posting. It won't be Zoe escaping though. Thank you guys so much!_


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